Misinformation Causing Headaches

[volatile]

The misinformation that sales people and other people, in general (i.e. the supposed friend/son/daughter/husband/wife/etc. that knows about computers), drives me up the wall. I have to continually re-educate customers and try to convince them that they received the wrong information. I tell them one thing and they refuse to believe me because their more trusted source said something to the contrary. For example, some salesperson told a customer that all Vista drivers were backwards compatible and would work on Windows XP and vice versa. This, of course, is completely wrong and when a device was not working because the improper drivers were installed, the customer refuses to listen. They insist on believing the other person was right when obviously it is not working...

The other thing is when people who are not subject matter experts try to act like they are. A co-worker wanted to get into programming and was asking if he should learn C++ or Java first...and, again, a sales person told him he should learn Java because it is better and C++ was a wannabe Java that never took off and is never used anymore. I had to correct this blatant error and told him that was not the case and that C++ is just as useful now as it was then and that the two languages are used for different purposes. If he wanted to start programming he would have to decide what exactly he wanted to do and then pick a language based on the strengths of the language. But, of course, the sales person claimed to know more than myself, a software engineer. Guess who the co-worker decided to listen to?

Sorry about the rant...it's just aggravating how people seem to like to listen to bad advice and can't be convinced otherwise.

[freaktard]

I agree, but my attitude now is: If they want to listen to bad advice, let 'em. In the end they'll get what they deserve.

[JustADude]

I think we covered this with the FINO (First In, Never Out) syndrome... also known as the Barnacles of Stupid™ theory.

[earl colby pottinger]

I try only once now

I used to spend hours trying to convince people that after 35 years in home computers (yes, pre-intel 4004 chip) that I knew better than some person who's job did not even involve computers on a daily basis.

Now, I give them ten minutes. If they insist that the other person knows better, I walk.

And I make it stick, I refuse to help them period with *ANY* computer problem. People like that keep messing up their system and then waste your time fixing it. I figure that aside from work where I am paid to talk to said people, that I have wasted about a year of my life in total time, and less than 10% learnt their lesson within the first three system mess-ups.

If instead of wasting time with them I had spent it doing the things I wanted I would be a lot further ahead in life.