PCs drive me crazy.
I’ll admit: when the Apple commercials come on, I identify with Mac guy. Not to bash PCs (I promise), but I swear by Macs. It’s just my personal preference. And no, I’m not as cool as the Mac guy; my wife will tell you I dress more like a PC.
So when I say, “PCs drive me crazy,” I’m lumping Macs in that statement, too. What I really mean is, “PC (and Mac) users drive me crazy.”
And the reason is (drum roll, please): default settings.
Here’s my beef: most people I know just take whatever comes their way. With respect to their computer of choice, that means accepting the “standard” settings that come with their machine, otherwise known as the defaults.
To me, that’s just sheer laziness. And worse, it kills curiosity, personality and a better understanding of how things work.
By accepting default settings “out of the box,” you’re declaring your desire not to “think outside the box.” Literally.
My question to most people I meet is, “Why?”
It bothers me that people take someone else’s opinion of how they should do things (in this case, how they look at and interact with software and hardware) at face value. Do you really think some engineer at Microsoft or Apple truly knows best—for you?
I think what scares people the most is the notion that they will break something by tinkering with it. That, or they are intimated and feel overwhelmed at all the options and therefore feel some measure of safety in leaving things the way they are.
I understand both these fears. Somehow over the years, I’ve come to realize that software is made to be messed with—and it’s hard to really “break” anything. For me, a wealth of options is a challenge: namely, to ferret out the best-of-the-best features and remove or hide the stuff I don’t need.
But replace “computers and software” with “cars,” and I will curl up in a ball. I’m sure there’s an auto mechanic somewhere laughing and saying, “Cars are easy to configure…they are made to be tinkered with…” Guess who’s to blame for my paranoia or lack of ease around an engine block? Me.
So I do feel the “default lover’s” pain. At the same time, I challenge those who fit that mold to break it, and to poke around and see what’s possible. You might be surprised and delighted to find that there are features you didn’t know that make your life a whole lot better. Shortcuts. Time savers. Gorgeous fonts and layouts. You name it.
Often, I will walk by a colleague’s computer and watch them take five steps to do something that they could’ve done in one or two. I really want to help, but don’t want to come across as a smarty know-it-all. Likewise, I wish people would feel comfortable in pointing out better ways to do things to me. That’s what great niche blogs are for, I suppose.
This “no defaults” philosophy can extend way beyond computers. But starting there (where we all spend hours a day, glued to our screens), is a good jumping off point. Pretty soon, you will start looking at lots of other things differently, and asking yourself, “How can I make this work faster and more effectively?”
Fortunately, you won’t get grease on your shoes for clicking around on a Mac or PC. And the beauty is, you can always go back to the defaults. Just in case, make sure you keep track of what you change.
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