I also think it can be difficult and a little daunting for folks who have never worked with computer hardware before and don't really understand what each part of their computer does. Tech people can get a little condescending with this stuff, but I'd suggest that they imagine they're dealing with something that's completely out of their element to the extent that basic terminology is meaningless to them.
Watching a youtube video is one thing, but if you don't understand what you're doing and you don't have the exact same setup as the video, it's easy to be afraid of destroying your expensive hardware and there are ways to do that (e.g. forgetting standoffs, slotting CPU incorrectly, etc).
I understand, but at the same time I think it's worth remembering that not everyone's brains are wired the same way.
Case in point: go to any bike community online and people will tell you how painfully easy it is to dissemble and reassemble a bike. I had issues with my derailleurs and having bought repair tools and parts and watching youtube videos, I could not figure out how to repair my bike. I felt so lost and frustrated that I just gave up. Take it to a shop and the person might repair it in five minutes.
Now put a computer in front of me and I can assemble it no problem. Maybe the bike repair person gets confused and watching a 10 minute youtube video of someone putting together different hardware doesn't instill them with more confidence. Maybe they just feel more comfortable having someone else build it for them.
Now, someone might say to me that I should strive to "illuminate the black box" instead of complain when it comes to repairing my bike. In a sense, that's true, it would be very useful if I could repair my bike myself. But like, also, I really tried to do it. I watched multiple videos. Just nothing directly applied to my bike and I didn't entirely understand the function of all the screws and bolts on the derailleur.
So are a million other hobbies. It's entirely possible to buy an off the shelf computer- in the scheme of fiddly hobbies, its hard to argue that building a PC is some grand challenge. People build wrist watches from sheet metal for goodness sake.
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I also think it can be difficult and a little daunting for folks who have never worked with computer hardware before and don't really understand what each part of their computer does. Tech people can get a little condescending with this stuff, but I'd suggest that they imagine they're dealing with something that's completely out of their element to the extent that basic terminology is meaningless to them.
Watching a youtube video is one thing, but if you don't understand what you're doing and you don't have the exact same setup as the video, it's easy to be afraid of destroying your expensive hardware and there are ways to do that (e.g. forgetting standoffs, slotting CPU incorrectly, etc).
I agree with this. But to me, building a PC is a reason to illuminate the black box rather than complain that the box is black
I understand, but at the same time I think it's worth remembering that not everyone's brains are wired the same way.
Case in point: go to any bike community online and people will tell you how painfully easy it is to dissemble and reassemble a bike. I had issues with my derailleurs and having bought repair tools and parts and watching youtube videos, I could not figure out how to repair my bike. I felt so lost and frustrated that I just gave up. Take it to a shop and the person might repair it in five minutes.
Now put a computer in front of me and I can assemble it no problem. Maybe the bike repair person gets confused and watching a 10 minute youtube video of someone putting together different hardware doesn't instill them with more confidence. Maybe they just feel more comfortable having someone else build it for them.
Now, someone might say to me that I should strive to "illuminate the black box" instead of complain when it comes to repairing my bike. In a sense, that's true, it would be very useful if I could repair my bike myself. But like, also, I really tried to do it. I watched multiple videos. Just nothing directly applied to my bike and I didn't entirely understand the function of all the screws and bolts on the derailleur.
So are a million other hobbies. It's entirely possible to buy an off the shelf computer- in the scheme of fiddly hobbies, its hard to argue that building a PC is some grand challenge. People build wrist watches from sheet metal for goodness sake.