> Users shouldn't need to care what a Hard Drive is.
In theory, they ought not need to, but as currently constructed, they do need to because hard drives are terribly unreliable, and people expect to rely on them. If you explain to them that their thesis is being stored inside a little box that has a few discs of thin aluminium covered in rust and that they're being spun in space 5000 times a minute, then just sometimes they understand why they ought to have some sort of backup strategy. Some people will take your advice without understanding but most are skeptical of inconvenient claims and won't act without understanding.
It's like people shouldn't have to understand anything beyond that their car has a 'stop pedal'. But it's still really important for people to understand that they have brakes in their car, that the breaks wear out, don't work well in some kinds of conditions, and make certain sounds when they need fixing.
Sub-optimal conditions both, but a necessary artifact of current levels of technology. Now, ABS systems have reduced some of that wet-weather cognitive load with software. Online backup services are a start in that direction for hard drives. But until it comes as part of the built-in price of the computer (that is a sellable feature) and high-speed Internet is pervasive, people still need to worry about it. At least until dual SSD's are standard equipment.
In theory, they ought not need to, but as currently constructed, they do need to because hard drives are terribly unreliable, and people expect to rely on them. If you explain to them that their thesis is being stored inside a little box that has a few discs of thin aluminium covered in rust and that they're being spun in space 5000 times a minute, then just sometimes they understand why they ought to have some sort of backup strategy. Some people will take your advice without understanding but most are skeptical of inconvenient claims and won't act without understanding.
It's like people shouldn't have to understand anything beyond that their car has a 'stop pedal'. But it's still really important for people to understand that they have brakes in their car, that the breaks wear out, don't work well in some kinds of conditions, and make certain sounds when they need fixing.
Sub-optimal conditions both, but a necessary artifact of current levels of technology. Now, ABS systems have reduced some of that wet-weather cognitive load with software. Online backup services are a start in that direction for hard drives. But until it comes as part of the built-in price of the computer (that is a sellable feature) and high-speed Internet is pervasive, people still need to worry about it. At least until dual SSD's are standard equipment.