The IT Support Handbook: A How-To Guide to Providing Effective Help and Support to IT Users

© Mike Halsey 2019

M. HalseyThe IT Support Handbookhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5133-1_3

3. Understanding Your Users: How Much Do They Know?

Mike Halsey¹ 

(1)

Sheffield, UK

 

It’s commonly said that a computer that’s left in the box and never used will never have anything go wrong with it. While this is a conceit, it’s said to emphasize the point that computers only develop problems because Human beings are using them. It is extremely difficult for a fault to develop with a computer without a Human being involved at some stage.

It’s worth noting, as an aside, that the term “bug” was coined by Dr. Grace Murray Hopper, an Admiral in the US Navy when, back in 1947, a moth was found inside a Harvard Mark II computer she and her team had been using ...