Subject: RE: [hackers-il] The Soul of a New Company

From: Chen Shapira <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 09:04:25 +0200

> How many questions from friends and relatives who can't connect to the
> internet, got a virus in their Outlook, or got a disk or a memory chip
> fried have you fielded recently? A few weeks ago I helped an
> acquaintance of mine disconnect the cables from her brand new computer
> because she expected a carpenter to work on her desk. She would not
> call me if she had a problem - even a trivial one - with her washing
> machine or air conditioner. She'd pay a professional. I don't see many
> ads in Yellow Pages advertising "Itzik OS installation services". This
> may change when computers become as commonplace as piping in our
> houses. The computer boom is very recent, remember? The boxes are
> there, the services not yet.

1. I'm not sure about the white-pages, but when I look in the ads section of
"Ha-Ir" (the local Tel-Aviv paper) or in the university computer lab, you
see tons of ads "Install Windows and Office at your home. Fast and friendly
service. Reasonable prices". My friends would never call them, though. They
can call me for free.

2. My dad is a dentist, he is getting millions of questions a day on the
lines of "it hurts over here. what should I do?", even if "over here" refers
to the stomach. Omer's dad is an engineer, we keep asking him to design
furniture for us. My aunt has a great garden (although she isn't
professional), any time my home plants look less green, I'm calling her for
advice. If I had a friend who was a car mechanic, I'd be all over him with
questions. The only reason you aren't asked about washing machines is
because your job has nothing to do with washing machines.