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Anyone else the only "techie" person of the family?

I was (since graduated) the only one for my entire school. Teachers would interupt tests, lectures, presentations for my assistance. Convient sometimes, other times it got really old. Going away from college was like techy vacation. When i come back in the summer though its game on all over again. haha
 
I certainly am. My dad was the original, he bought a Mac in 1986 and has kept buying them for the whole family since. Never let anything else into the family, we're a pure-blooded Mac family :D

He's competent enough with computers now, though he's fallen a bit behind, he can get by without me. However, I serve in place of a hired IT guy when things get too complicated. My mother, on the other hand, has to get me whenever she accidently minimizes a window because she panics and doesn't know what happened or how to get it back.

My friends are also hopeless, and a lot of people I just know and aren't my friends also message me with their problems. I'd be fine if they were mac problems, but people just figure I'm an all around computer guy after seeing the music/movies/graphics/websites I've done on my Mac. So they assume I can help them with Windows. Bugs the hell outta me.
 
yg17 said:
...He takes the mouse. The third popup is the right click menu. That's right, he's right clicking the mouse (probably doesn't know it...he had a stroke recentley and doesn't have much feeling in his hands) but in the meantime, he's b*tching about all of these so-called "pop ups." I explain that everything is completely normal, and to be careful not to click the right button.

So, does he learn? Probably not. Where we stand right now, is he'll frequentley say to my dad, "I try to use the computer, but I get sick of all the popups and turn it off!" So his expensive, overpriced, HP heap of crap is basically sitting there, getting maybe an hour of usage each week. I think he's basically given up on computers. Yet, I'm sure shortly down the road, he'll want a new one that doesn't have popups :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
This is why the one button mouse works:)
 
Don't get me started with my Grandpa.

His computer (Dell 2.0ghz P4, a $1600 in its day) got filled with spyware and all that crap and I reinstalled the OS, virus blockers, spyware protection, etc.

Every time a new version of AOL comes out he gets all mad because they change features and move stuff around. And worst of all, it messes up his scanner and he goes crazy.

I think we need to disable his AOL account. Here are his problems with e-mail
- He thinks he sends you stuff but does not, then he gets mad
- He sends you some joke or something and you have no idea what he is talking about
- He calls you to confirm that you got the e-amil
- He sends you the most random pictures
Here are the most annoying parts
- He sends you chain main
- He sends you the same chain mail multiple times, but weeks apart

He has also broken 3 printers trying to install ink cartridges. :rolleyes:

I could go on, but I'm too exhausted to think about it. That and its too stressful to think about.

I just wonder how old people never caught onto the computer revolution.
 
CompUser said:
I just wonder how old people never caught onto the computer revolution.
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Heh take it easy. Just remember this when you get older...b/c I fear the day I have to listen to my son for computer advice. And no, I don't have a son yet :)
 
Mav451 said:
Heh take it easy. Just remember this when you get older...b/c I fear the day I have to listen to my son for computer advice. And no, I don't have a son yet :)
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I'm not going to let it happen! I will not get disconnected from modern technology! :D
 
Yea, i'm the techie out of my friends and family.

I actually enjoy helping them, it makes me feel good and smart. and I LOVE when they ask about macs and iPods.
 
The most common problem is that the router needs to be reset or something. if i have to hear "fix the internet" or "the internet isn't working" i'm gonna flip a ****. it's such a pain. unplug the router, reset the router, plug everything back in, grarar it makes me angry just thinking about it. :mad: :mad: :mad: :(
if i wasnt the only tech savvy person in the family my life would be better.

The second most common problem for us is the printer. it either refuses to start up every time there's a power outage, or the paper needs to be adjusted, or it doesnt show up on the network. my printer is horribly unreliable, and their nagging doesnt help :mad:

As for friends, i'm not like a tech support guy, i dont know the solution to everything, especially with other people's hardware/software. so every time someone asks for my help, if i dont solve the problem, i feel not only like i failed in my own mind, but i feel guilty that i couldn't help them. anyone else feel like that?
 
For my second post in this topic, I will actually participate in the discussion:

Yes, I am the main techie in my family and friends. All of my friends come to me for tech advice, and all of my friends' parents come to me for tech advice (well, some..). Luckily some of them have picked stuff up (like, my brother now knows some basic HTML and the fact that Macs rule... and one of my friends actually bought a MacBook Pro and is really good with it.. even the terminal)..

But, I hate getting stupid questions.. :rolleyes:
 
Less so since I switched them all over to Macs... unplugging the router is about the extent of it.

My mother is becoming more tech aware. One of her pals last week told her than he'd seen a 12" Powerbook in a store and was thinking about getting it and she was on the ball enough to tell him that Apple had switched to Intel and he'd be better off with a Macbook but he'd want to upgrade the memory. I was stunned!
 
It's my job so people just assume I want to help them when I'm not at work. Sure I'll help:

"My computer doesn't work!"
"That's nice buy a Mac"
"You work with Windows PCs at work, can't you fix mine?"
"Yeah sure"
"Cool"
"$100 per hour"

...
 
My family is a lost cause. They barely survive when I leave for college. Lots of phone calls and email. Hell, I fixed computers for floormates. It's a gift and a curse

The worst feeling is finishing a day at work fixing computers, to only come home to fix more computers.

All of them windows based machines mind you.
 
DJMastaWes said:
Yea, i'm the techie out of my friends and family.

I actually enjoy helping them, it makes me feel good and smart. and I LOVE when they ask about macs and iPods.
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Haha. Same here. Especially about loving when they ask about Mac products and such.
 
I like helping my family out. It's nice when they make the smallest thing a big deal. I get entertained by that a lot.
 
Yes. But my immediate family member use Macs as a result of my platform "allegiance." :)

At least my mom knows enough to get by with her iMac most of the time... my friends have worse times with their non-techie family members, some of which shouldn't be allowed to touch a computer without taking a 101 class on basics.
 
Ever since my family discovered the convenience and quality of digital cameras, and I made the mistake of loading a memory card into my iPhoto library, I have become the go-to girl for all their photographic needs. :(
 
zap2 said:
I'm even the Apple guy in my grade, i've had people tell me when ever they see the Mac /PC guys ads, they think of me..
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That's hot.

yg17 said:
The only thing I didn't do was install Firefox because he believes that the blue E is the internet, and explaining to him that the orange fox around the blue globe is the internet would just confuse him.

.....He takes the mouse. The third popup is the right click menu. That's right, he's right clicking the mouse
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Haha, funny. I love geriatric old men. They're so funny, especially the ones who are a bit racist and don't even know it.

Applespider said:
My mother is becoming more tech aware. One of her pals last week told her than he'd seen a 12" Powerbook in a store and was thinking about getting it and she was on the ball enough to tell him that Apple had switched to Intel and he'd be better off with a Macbook but he'd want to upgrade the memory. I was stunned!
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm truly impressed. My mum doesn't even know how to turn on a computer because there's no button that says "POWER" beside it. I tell her the power switch is now a button, and it's usually a circle with a vertical line through it. She doesn't understand, and never will. In fact, after we got a new TV, we had to buy a universal remote that had the word "POWER" beside the power button so that she knew how to turn it on. The remote that came with the TV had that confusing circle and line symbol that confuses her.

Before the universal remote, if my mum saw that the television was on, and yet nobody was watching it, she'd just leave it turned on until the kids (that's me and my brother) got home. :(
 
My Dad likes to think of himself as a techie. He once told me he could do my job. I told him "f**k off could you" and he got really upset. For some reason he equates being able to get a scanner working on Windows with correctly configuring BGP attributes to optimise inter-AS routing :)
 
Abstract said:
Haha, funny. I love geriatric old men. They're so funny, especially the ones who are a bit racist and don't even know it.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's my grandpa. He uses every racial slur out there and sees nothing wrong with it. His latest one, was he didn't like the apartment where my sister was moving to, because there are "a lot of [n-word]s there." They don't see anything wrong with it:rolleyes:
 
I guess. I know a fair bit about Windows and Macs, and then TV/DVD/Sky/Video/Mobile Phone/Phone stuff.

Like any gadget really, but in a non-geeky way.

Trendy gadget lover :p .. and my family offer to pay me for like connecting a few cables, so its all good :)
 
Wow, such a great response to my question! Lol, like a lot of you mentioned I get extremely annoyed after being constantly bombarded with help requests. This last April my dad insisted that I set up a wireless network in the house so that my siblings would stop fighting over the one internet enabled PC. It took me about two days in total. Both my ibook and imac picked up the wireless signal in seconds and had no problem running. However the three XP running PCs took FOREVER to configure before they even accepted the signal. I actually had to reinstall XP on one of them just to get it to accept a usb wireless adapter :mad: However at college it's a nice gift to have when that cute girl down the hall needs help emptying her trash can :p
 
My Dad fixes macs for a living so this is really how i got into it but i am obsessed. As well as knowing a lot about the different specs on the machines, i also know a hell of a lot of the history of apple computer itself. It drives people insane but at schol, i am the person who does everything. The whole year comes to me with their mac problems and even the teachers do to. It gives me a nice feeling to know that i can fix their computers and they owe me :p
The best part is during the summer holidays, i go out and fix computers/ do some networking. Gives experience and money.
But yeah, the major topics are Apple Computer, mobile phones (cell phones if your American), Premiership football.
 
I would say that I'm the only one that is good at computers. My mom has gotten really good sense she got a Mac. My dad is ok. He know how to use his PC pretty well. My brothers are both perfectly fine. The only thing that is annoying is that our router always gets messed up and Im the only one who knows how to fix it so everyone comes crying to me when the internet is down. :(
 
In my family there are: 2 Electrical Engineers, a Civil Engineer, a Mechanical Engineer, and a Chemical Engineer who is now a COO of a software company.

I guess the answer is no :eek:.

But between all of us we can make/fix almost anything :p
 
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