Yet another basic question

[wintermute]

Why do we do it? Because it is easy, and often provides us with (not necessarily the best) the information we need.

I realized there was a problem when I wanted to buy something and couldn't find it on google so I assumed it wasn't available. Of course it was, it was just being sold by someone who didn't have a website with all of their products on it.

That is the risk, we become so dependent on it, that if it doesn't serve it up to us we have forgotten how to find the information out the traditional way. I'm sure there must be people who believe if you can't google something, then it doesn't exist.

Tony.

 

[VenusFly]

Exactly.

And that is the catch 22 of the modern digital era, you cannot just browse endlessly in a gloriously well decorated library anymore and ponder what to read next, or what to watch from a video store.

So the people today who have grown up around modern computer technology have lost that ability to learn easily by simply browsing and becoming engaged with the source material that they want to read.

That is another issue with the "brain drain" that we see here on this forum. If you want to mitigate the problem then maybe recommending books to people instead of forum posts is a good way to go. I'm not entirely sure how to solve the matter but that is a start.

 

[AllenB]

Wikipedia seems to be a reasonable self contained web of relevant distractions without too many irrelevant ones, if that makes sense. Some believe that wikipedia can be a little biased at times but wouldn't think this about Google, which is much more blatant.

I suspect this is because many interpret the search engine as the beginning of the internet and thus, beyond comprehension. It is just there.

 

[DF96]

Its just like going to a video store or library and browsing instead of using netflix and searching for "unknown scifi movies that I don't know the name of or have ever heard of before." which is a thing that is just not possible with a search engine, you have to search for a list of recommended movies or books that other people have recommended you view, so you are going to end up being biased towards whatever opinion of theirs is best.

Yes, one of the problems with modern life is that to find out anything about anything you first have to know what it is called - and in some cases what it is called in America. Some years ago I was in a word processor and wanting to do something (I forget what it was); it took ages to find how to do it because I didn't know what Microsoft called this particular feature.

I recently bought a new camera. It has lots of buttons and menus, but only very minimal instructions - I guess Microsoft would call this 'discoverable' features. Without useful instructions I just had to push buttons and see what happened. I ended up with a screen of information which I could not get rid of, not knowing how I got there and not knowing what it was called Google could not help me. I eventually found some online instructions and then had to scan through the pages looking for something which looked like this screen. Eventually I discovered that one element of this screen was a 'histogram' - then I could search and find what the screen was and how to get out of it. A proper printed user manual would have been much quicker. The funny thing is that the camera came with a thick book, which is a short almost useless user manual in about 20 different languages.

 

[DF96]

It is interesting to note that the one thing which is hard to do with an internet browser plus search engine is to actually browse i.e. move from one item to another item which is connected by proximity rather than logic, like books in a library or articles in a magazine.

 

[VenusFly]

The funny thing is that the camera came with a thick book, which is a short almost useless user manual in about 20 different languages.

The most disappointing thing about this would have to be that they would save a lot of money in no longer paying for tech support employment if they simply invested more in making the user manual thicker.

I really hate multi-function buttons, I avoid buying products with them like the plague. If I have to select and move a menu selection across a tiny LCD display for the sake of changing a single function in anything again I'll lose it.

But with the way devices are getting smaller all the time you can't really avoid that unless you go full touchscreen then things become a bit easier.

Call me old fashioned but I will willingly prefer something analog like a Yaesu FT-101 over something newer because of this specific reason. As for digital cameras the snap and shoots are pretty good but even the popular Gopro has difficult to read and confusing settings that provide no real feedback on what the setting will do with the image quality, its more of a point and hope sort of camera. But of course the gopro was never designed for that kind of work.

Would be interesting to handle an old film camera again if you are interested in going old school, there are however modern digital cameras with analog style controls available.

 

[myleftear]

sorry to revive this, but another 2c

The original search function is terrible and that is usually what beginners use first to find stuff on the site. So the inexperienced go there, find nothing, get stressed and post a thread.

Also google isn't what it used to be, whenever you search for something simple you either get inundated with a corporation looking to offer a solution or sell a product OR you get a first page full of youtube videos full of video bloggers.

The downfall of the original classic www is detrimental to any hobby and even more so here especially when there are corporations like google stifling the internet. and it doesn't help that the old threads on this website have missing information/images.

Websites like this for example are buried underneath youtube and corporate paid-for search results:
Power Amplifier Fundamental
Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Television Sets
DIY Audio Articles

Whereas in the past they used to be the top hits in a search engine. Unless you remember or bookmark the site you are never going to find it.

So expect more simple questions in the future. Or start a thread to answer them all in one place. I don't know.

Venusfly is so right!
I once asked for some kind of beginner-department in the DIYAudio-cosmos, and was told there were, erm, 'flaws' in such a concept (the cracks ignoring the newbie-section). But on the other hand, if there were some basic (and not so basic) informations, collected and somewhat classified/sorted, I'm sure it would help both us newbies as well as the cracks—basic explanations here, complex dialogues on specific challenges there.

The abandoned WIKI comes to mind...
Also helping would—probably—be a metatag/tagging mechanism of sorts ("this post is about …", similar to the "Post Icons") and a possibility to have a conversation threaded instead of strictly chronologic.

 

[OffGridKindaGuy]

Give a man a fish, he's not hungry for a day. Teach a man how to fish, he feeds his whole family for years..

Give a noob a very simple flat pack speaker kit at a reasonable cost with good construction instructions and some theory to inspire interest, and a reward for buying the kit is a membership to the elite "Noob Section"! DIY makes a little income and I'm sure a few veteran fanatics around here wouldn't mind helping out..

3 levels.. Sealed and vented.. Full range.. 2-way.. 3-way.. 3 kits with inexpensive components.. Simple 2/3 way crossover circuits.. (6dB) Nothing extremely accurate or pretty but something very simple to assemble and sounds "good"..

Honestly, I would have been thrilled to get a cheap speaker kit, assemble it, and have some kind of direct support to walk me through the process if I needed help. Not to mention the thrill of listening to something I assembled myself when it was finished!

Just some brain farts..

 

[Bleugh]

people ask simple questions because they're too lazy to search.
it's the old 'path of least resistance' ..it's far FAR easier to copy / paste a question to 100 people than to utilise ones brain cells to form abstract search queries based upon the general scope of the idea you're asking.

I've found that giving someone enough information to leave them hanging either gets them learning, or gets them nasty or demanding

then you know which ones are worth bothering with further

always happy to help people to help themselves, but there's a limit to my patience
Hint, NEVER respond to PM's requesting help - always keep these things in the public first

 

[myleftear]

well, yes

I know that there are helpful, patient people around, and I was glad they were here more than once.
But sometimes, after searching without success for half an afternoon (or just finding loads of partial answers which I can't connect (yet), I end up asking a basic question. Which makes me sigh for some way of easing this very process for both the tired cracks as well as the desperate noob that I am
The forum's search ain't no help, and google, well, is google (75 - 95 % commercial stuff/pinterest/alibaba/etc).

I'll try not to complain anymore.

 

[scottjoplin]

Have you tried adding DIYaudio to a google search?

 

[myleftear]

ah, yes, sometimes.
there's no alisomething then of course...

 

[korpberget]

Have you tried adding DIYaudio to a google search?

I always do. Saves a lot of time.

 

[StevieH]

I've been posting basic questions because although I'm an Electronics engineer of some 40 years experience, I was trained solely on semiconductor/microprocessor technology. When I decided to enter the world of valves/tubes I turned first to Google/U-Tube etc for basic reading and learning, and then discovered that through this forum there are a good few people that would willingly share their experience and knowledge and encourage people like me to go ahead and give it a go. So far I've been very impressed and encouraged by the helpful hints and suggestions I've received from you guys, hopefully as I progress I may in turn be able to offer advice to someone one day.