As a technologist, I have been explaining zip files to non-technical people for nearly 30 years. About 80% of these people get it right away, and then move on with their lives. The other 20% just refuse. They insist on locking themselves into a technical adolescence in this ONE area for no reason other than "I don't want to learn one more thing."
Last night an admin person who works at the NCBTMB insisted that my wife's 52 continuing education certificates should be sent individually in 52 emails because the admin person refused to understand that she could double-click the zip and LIKE FUCKING MAGIC all the certificates would be there. Its bad enough that these ONLINE-ONLY exams do not automatically record pass or failure, forcing you you have to email totally forgeable certificates like it's the 3rd century. That there are incompetent boneheads on the other end of the email who are being paid to operate devices they BARELY understand has sent me over the edge.
Just in case I ever find myself needing to justify my position to these people, here's the analogy I'm going to use.
Why would anyone use a grocery cart at the grocery store?
Sure grocery carts have their use, but they do introduce a measure of complexity to shopping.
You go in the store, you get the thing you need, you pay for it at the register, and you take it to your car. Simple!
What if you need two things?
Well, you go in the store, you grab the two things, you pay for them at the register, and you take them to your car. Still simple simple simple!!
What if you need 12 things?
You make several trips!! You go in the store, you grab as much as you can carry, you pay for them at the register, you take them out to your car, then you go back in, grab more things, take them to the register, and so on and so on.
The beauty of this is that its so simple to understand. It's just picking things up and carrying them! Simple!
I'll tell you what it is ... its SOCIALLY FUCKING IRRESPONSIBLE. You're taking up space in the aisles. You're taking up space in the lines for the registers. You're wasting the cashier's time. You're taking up a parking spot way longer than you need to. Your poor family members who want to help you unload the car are affected too. They could bring in 3 or 4 bags, but instead they have to waste their Saturday making dozens of unnecessary trips back and forth to the car.
If avoiding grocery carts or grocery baskets or grocery bags ONLY affected grocery luddites I'd be fine with it, but it doesn't. It fucks up the world around them. It makes the lives of everyone around them a little worse. They're not Hitler, but their voluntary ignorance is enough that they increase the shittyness of the world. They're the double parker. They're the person who won't let someone into their lane. They're leaving the toilet seat up. They're having a four hour conversation in a crowded breakfast place when there's a coffee shop next door.
If the willfully ignorant want to have stupid passwords that only expose THEIR financial life, cool, whatever, but I'm putting my goddamn foot down on the zip file thing. Anyone who has used a grocery cart has ALL the mental capacity to understand what zip files are for, how they work, and how convenient they are for themselves and everyone around them.
I would already never hire anyone in any office position who couldn't create or open a zip file, but I pledge to actively embarrass these types of people in the future.
by RjakActual http://ift.tt/1ULLN6y
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