blinded by the science

The Internet Is Not Your Toaster

Mar 9, 02:00 AM (breakfast time) - by dedi

I’ve been good you know. I keep my computer in order. I help out my friends and family with their technical problems. But that’s not enough. Believe it or not, I used to be spam-free and quite happy. Well, those days are gone and it’s your fault. It’s you, it’s my newbie friend and it’s my mother. The simple actions of a few naive users and the disease of spam spreads. After all, it’s not my infected addressbook in the hands of spammers, nor my email address used to propagate the latest virii and penis enlargement ads. Many people will confront me and insist that I cannot blame the user in this and that my anger should rest with the evil spam kings and lazy sysadmins. It’s nice of them, but they’re wrong.

There are some things that just work. With a little adjustment and a few rounds of burnt bread, a toaster will make toast quickly and easily. For the most part, appliances are designed well enough to be functional, easy to learn and run without glitches (besides a lost sock now and again). Well, isn’t that special. A computer is not an appliance. It’s not an appliance; it will never be as simple as a door handle and it’s not your toaster. In fact, computers are more like power tools and other beefy toys that help with powerful tasks and come with many caveats and warning labels. Pushing this metaphor to its extreme, adding your computer to a network like at the office or the internet is like dropping off Leatherface and his chainsaw at a fraternity party on Halloween. In other words, computers can be used for much good and a lot of evil and connecting them to an ever-growing collection of other computers can be risky business.

The thing about toasters that makes them so easy to use is that there are very few decisions to make. Perhaps one day computers will be as foolproof as toasters, until then we can avoid Microsoft and Windows. Seriously, people are better off avoiding Windows not simply because it’s a large (and easy) target for security issues, but parts of its design philosophy exacerbate the danger of naive users. Windows developers try their best to balance many choices and customizability as well as ease of use. This sounds appealing since they can cater to both naive computer users and highly technical people who want more control. The problem is there’s a lot changes that can be made and should be made depending on how and where you use your computer. Computer geeks are already for that challenge, but naive users are often left with defaults that don’t suit their needs and can’t protect them from themselves. On the other side, there’s Apple with OSX which is about as toaster-like as computers get at the moment. Apple has carefully chosen many sane defaults and rightfully protects the naive user from them. It’s hard to make the wrong choice if you can’t find it. Let’s not forget Linux, where you’re asked to make all the decisions, thereby raising the bar and excluding the naive user (or forcing them to become a savvy user). It’s my opinion that everyone who uses computers, especially online, should be a savvy user in the same way that anyone who is allowed to drive a car should have at least taken lessons.

It’s really about building common sense for smart computer use. Anyone lacking a certain sense about how to move through life online is going to become a victim somewhere along the line. That’s why you’ve got to take responsibility and be prepared. I’d like to share a network with naive users as much as I’d enjoy driving on a two-lane highway with drunk teenager drivers. The problem is that any schmoo can get online these days. So for all of our sakes, please get savvy. Use anti-virus software. Don’t click on strange email attachments. If you really have to open it, scan it for viruses first. Find a good password and use it (and your dog’s name is not a good password). If you can’t remember your passwords, write them on a post-it and keep it in your wallet, not on your desk. Encryption is good for you, learn how to use it. Don’t trust strangers; if it looks funny, then it’s probably a scam. Always manually type in your important websites like online banking. Oh, and never give anyone your Social Security number based on a random important looking email or webpage.