I understand that not everyone is computer literate. Heck even my own mother, who is very bright is terrified of the things, and has never found a good enough reason to want to learn much about them. She can however boot the computer, write a document in a word processor, print it, save it. Basic skills. She learned exactly as much as she needed to, so she could get her college degree, something she wanted. Swell. Now she has a laptop, a very nice one, and is learning to use it to control her embroidery machine, she finally found something she wanted to do with a computer, so she is learning. Good for her.

What I can't understand is why the place I work hires people who are wholly computer illiterate. When there are other choices. Why would you hire someone who can't use his computer to write CBT (computer based training). Granted it isn't like he has to actually code the web pages, or make the images for them. But if you can't use a computer comfortably how in the heck are you supposed to use it as a tool to train others? If you can't figure out how to use Instant Messenger, when you have been shown 3 times, and you don't even know what a window is called, you can't talk about what you see on your screen, and you don't listen to people who are trying to explain it for the 300th time, what are your chances of success?

We hire the computer illiterate all the time her, sad but true, usually retired Army folks, who have allegedly been using a computer in their jobs for decades, but not really doing it, instead some sub functionary is doing it. Many of these retired gents pick stuff up pretty quickly, they are not so bad, sure they don't know how to boot a computer, they have no idea what to do if something goes wrong. However once the computer is on they can read their emails, and run their word processor without significant troubles, and they learn. When I come look at something and go "Oh, ok...once you get one of these sorts of errors where it says "General Protection Fault" you have to reboot or you will just keep getting them all day long." They learn to reboot, and if the error happens again then call me over, they learn how to print, how to map network drives, how to be more or less self-sufficient. Others can't find their asses with both hands tied behind their backs, or print a document without sending it 11 times, and leaving the 10 extra copies laying on the printer.

What makes me the most angry though is that they don't appear to be good writers or trainers. I could overlook technological incompetence, and get them to the functional level where they can work, if they could communicate. I could do this if they could understand. I have tried changing vocabulary, I have tried using less technical language, more technical language, speaking more slowly, drawing pictures, moving them out of the chair and showing them, refusing to show them instead talking them through every mouse click, showing them how to find the help text that explains the process so they can read it. Some of them just don't seem to communicate or learn through any known methods. I can't imagine what their writing must be like. They are essentially technical writers in this job. Take this fat manual make it into fun or at least interactive web based training. This requires that they Read, Understand, and be able to Make Others Understand. I fear for this company. One cannot hire based solely on old friendships and owed debts. You end up with employees who can't do their jobs, and no way to fire them. So now they make a lot of money, they acomplish nothing and drag back the productive members of their teams by asking questions over and over.

Don't get me wrong. I don't dislike all these retrired Army guys, they aren't all worthless unlearning slugs. My favorite bar none came in knowing next to nothing, had never really had to use a computer before, he could run a mouse, open and close applications, but that was about it. What he did have was an interest in learning. He did ask the same question more than once, but on the second occasion he always had a notecard and a pencil in hand. He still has a big stack of note cards in his desk and when he gets to a problem he has seen before he tries what is on the card first. Sometimes it doesn't work (like when we changed the network printers to using JetDirect, and he had instructions from when they were shared off the server) but usually it does. I think he is the greatest guy on earth. He still doesn't understand when I tell him some ofthe things he writes aren't sentances, because they don't have verbs, but he always trusts me when I restructure them for him, and he never askes me the same question needlessly.