A topic I don’t see addressed near enough is where do you draw the line between dumbing down or simplifying technical concepts to the typical “non-techie.”

Of course I believe anything technical should be as “user-friendly” as possible. I hate most TV remote controls and despise a web service that requires a complicated login procedure. Their is however a difference between making something easy to use and the attitude of not wanting to use something in the first place because it’s “technical.”

In the course of history we have seen many technological advances and during those times we have seen resistance. This is not specific to the “information age” or “computers.” As many seem to say they know nothing about.

At one time radio and television were new and strange. We still for the most part have to deal with “tuning to a frequency” or channel or station which uses a number or call letters. With that which now seems more “geeky?” tuning an FM radio to 90.1 (my local NPR station) or going to a web browser and remember to type in npr.org?

I remember in high school taking a class called, Typing on an ancient and unwieldy device known as a “typewriter.” To this day having to remember “picas”, manual carriage returns, and the madness of figuring out how to center a headline or paragraph still makes me scratch my head but I’m still glad I took the class because even know the principles I learned help me with the software equivalents I use.

I suppose this is an area I struggle with because I crave learning new things, especially in the areas of technology and multimedia be it new devices, software, techniques, etc. It almost pains me when I get blank stares when I mention podcasts, blogs, RSS etc. Those are things I love and have experienced great value using. I have often been “warned” by the leadership of groups I was going to speak to on those subjects to “not get too technical” at the risk of “speaking over their heads.” Are you a business person who desires to learn the value of new technologies but are often lost in your understanding? Have you been to computer user groups where they seem to constantly rehash the “beginner stuff?” What topics in the technical field do you think business people need to be better educated about? If I could focus on just one topic on this blog for the next week or so which topic would you like to see addressed and explained how it could benefit your business, organization or personal productivity?

• Business Blogging?
• Social Networking (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Forums, etc.)
• New Media
• Podcasting
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Digital Photography
• Video
• Online Virtual Office

Can you think of anything else?

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under Compelling Content, RSS, SEO, Tips, blogging, networking, podcasting, rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.