How much do you really know about your phone, or your TV, or any technological device you depend on or anything during the day? Like a lot of people I know how to turn things on, hook them up, (to some degree anyway) and even how to cuss like a sailor when they don’t do what I want. You’ve probably done that last one just as much as I have unless you’re an engineer that designs these types of things. In that case, haha, go to hell. Just kidding, kind of, but the fact is that engineers and designers and those with the big brains that understand the technology that’s constantly put on the market these days are about the only ones that can’t rightly be called dumb people since they know more about our devices than most of us.
And, like most of us, I too feel like kind of a dummy when someone that knows all about it starts explaining the ins and outs of a piece of technology that, again, we can turn on and hook up, but couldn’t talk about in detail if our lives depended on it. Come on my fellow dummies, let’s talk about it.
The Fakers Try to Fake
Seriously, is there anyone worse than a faker that tries to sound smart but is basically telling you the same type of things that you could read in the brochure? Just a brief anecdote for you, I tried to be a car salesman for about a month until I figured out that I didn’t have the lack of heart it took to chase someone that wasn’t interested to the door when they kept insisting that they didn’t want to buy. Anyway, what I quickly found out was that the life of a beginning car salesman that has no natural sales skill and likes to talk TO people instead of AT them isn’t a workable deal. But I also found out that not everyone can tell a faker from someone who really knows their stuff.
After studying one manual after another, taking ridiculous quizzes on the vehicles that the dealership had paid to have created, and essentially trying to build myself up to become something I wasn’t, it failed. Why did it fail? Because I didn’t know the product, and people saw that. I’ll fully admit that I didn’t have what it took, but some of those that had been working at this place didn’t either, and they’d been faking it for years, yet had sold their fair share of automobiles. You might think that it’s all confidence, and that’s partly right, but it’s also because they learned how to fake it until they could make it. Let me explain a few things about fakers.
- A good faker has a mix of confidence and bs at their disposal at all times, and could charm the habit off a nun if they played their angle right. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, or maybe not, but the truth is, they know what people want to hear and they prey on that in a manner that can confuse, disorient, and even convince someone that the salesman is an expert on any subject.
- The genuine geniuses will confuse and confuddle people out of habit since they know so much about the tech that they’ll explain it without realizing what they’re doing. Fakers tend to read the manuals and pour in the charm, and this is why some of them are damned good, while others are easy to ignore since they pour it on way too thick.
- If you’re worried that you’re going to get taken for a ride at the store, do your research online and learn a few things about the product you want and why it’s a good idea or a bad one. That way you can walk into the store and be able to tell the faker a thing or two if you happen to meet one. Being aware of what fakers will do to make a sale is wise as well, since there are several signs.
Seriously, do a Google search when it comes buying new technology and figure out what you really want. The stores are filled with genuine salespeople that know their stuff, but there are plenty of fakers as well.
Ask Yourself Questions Before Ever Going to the Store
Whether you shop online or actually to the store, there are questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to technology. Those of us that are in our late 20s and older can probably still remember a time when technology hadn’t quite overtaken so many aspects of our lives as it has in this current era. Don’t get me wrong, I happen to love my PC and phone since reading books, working, and a few other things are made a lot easier by having the technology, since not having to leave home to entertain people (you’re entertained, right?) is actually pretty cool. But there are a few things that we don’t really need technology for, especially the type of things that used to be easy to explain and do on our own without needing a smart device or other piece of technology around to help us. Seriously, ask yourself these questions before buying that new phone or other smart device.
- Do you need it? Obviously this is a pretty silly question since many people will say yes, of course they need a phone that can keep all their data, play games, music, and streaming videos and TV shows and help to program the other smart devices in the house. But do you? Do you really? Personally, it’s nice knowing that there’s a reason to get off my butt because Alexa or Siri can’t physically do something for me. Man, that would be creepy if they could do everything.
- Is it worth the money? That’s a pretty standard question for those that don’t have a huge bank account, and it’s not something that everyone worries about to be fair. But even rich people can be frugal, and there plenty of them that are since rich folks don’t stay rich by tossing their money at every new device that comes on the market. Hell, there are rich folks that still have flip phones. You know, the Star Trek phones that were popular back in the day when dinosaurs still roamed the earth? Oh, wait, that would make us the dinosaurs…well then stomp, stomp, roar, and stuff.
- Is the device smarter than you? That’s an insane question, right? Not really though, since as I mentioned in the beginning, you probably don’t know a lot about your smart devices other than the brand name, what they can do, and how to make them work. But you probably don’t know why they work the way they do, or how each component is situated to function as it should. Do your research, even if it only gives you a basic understanding of what you’re buying. It’s better to know how things fit the way they do, how they operate alongside one another, and there’s no barrier to learning the most basic explanation of how all this happens. It might be the ‘For Dummies’ version, but it’s better than not knowing at all.
Rise Up My Fellow Dummies
Don’t take ‘Dummies’ as a derogatory term, take it as a word that means we have a lot to learn yet, and that everything we need is at our fingertips, quite literally a lot of times. You don’t have to become an engineer or designer to understand the devices you work with or depend on day in and day out, but it helps to know how and why they function as they do, if only because you’ll know how to take better care of them, when they need maintenance, and which devices are best for your lifestyle and use. From personal use to work it’s best to know a little bit about the tools you’re bound to use on a regular basis, since you don’t likely need something that costs well over $1K when a smartphone that costs a couple of hundred bucks will work just fine and do everything you need. Listen folks, it’s better to save some of that money to have fun with and get what you need than to get what you might think you want and have nothing left in the bank. A working smart device and a cold brew go a lot further, know what I’m saying?
WTR? (Why’s That Radass?)
One thing that a lot of us that are in our late 30s and older are having to learn is that we do need to adapt and evolve with everything as it continues to move forward. It’s cool to remember that we’re the last generation that grew up and watched the current technology spring to life, but we still need to coexist with the tech as it continues to change and evolve.
