Why wouldn't anyone be able to program, yet have no idea how to buy or "build" (picking and assembling components is hardly that hard of a job) a PC, not to mention being able to administrate them at a decent enough level? I would find it strange to find programmers who don't know their way around a computer, although I'd imagine someone could technically go into CompSci and not actually know anything about real hardware.
This topic smells of /g/ or /tech/ or /comp/ somehow.
Assembling computers is the janitorial equivalent in the computer world.
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Anonymous2010-12-18 21:57
>Why wouldn't anyone be able to program, yet have no idea how to buy or "build" (picking and assembling components is hardly that hard of a job) a PC, not to mention being able to administrate them at a decent enough level?
>All programmers understand how to assemble a computer from a random mishmash of parts.
It might surprise you guys but there are a lot of programmers who can't put together a computer, indeed there are numerous computer programmers who code in stuff like CL and RPG who have a tough time even navigating a PC.
I've seen programmers who pretty much acted like the network was to assumed to be secure, sending unencrypted credit card data.
I knew an as/400 lady who got fired because she couldn't learn VB.NET, she was also incapable of connecting a computer to the IP ethernet network.
Lots of programmers know almost nothing about networking, I had a adjunct CC vb professor who seemed to not to have a great depth of knowledge about how windows administration or networks work, also his computer science was a little softer than I would have expected at times.
But I will agree I'm tired of kids who can put together a computer and install linux on it thinking they are just genius.
>could technically go into CompSci and not actually know anything about real hardware.
Computer science programs vary widely in content, my school will never tell me how a radio wave or analog electronics work (at least not in detail) but some schools will, my liberal arts school will teach me a ton about circuit logic and math, trade schooly schools teach almost all very domain specific material whenever they can.
I find everything I ever do a giant pain in the ass
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Anonymous2010-12-19 0:44
>>8
Most people who build computers don't think they're geniuses, unless you're talking about stupid high school kiddies. But they're not important anyway.
And it's not about bragging rights, or being considered ``intelligent''; it's about having fun and saving money over buying a prebuilt.
I had a hell of a time building my cluster. Might not seem like fun to you guys, but then again, not many people find programming to be enjoyable either.
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Anonymous2010-12-19 2:10
>>14
I bought all the parts on the internet then called my brother-in-law to assemble them.
>>14
I don't have fun while assembling computer(I agree with >>7). Maximum that I can do - buy a new hard disk. But even then I prefer external because I'm lazy to connect SATA cable.
In last 2 years I bought 4 HDD. 3 external 1 internal.
And I have enough money to buy prebuild. I have so much money that I even pay for games instead of pirating them.
It's understandable if someone who programs to solve/illustrate physics, math, or biological problems can't build a computer, but I can't understand a systems programmer, a programming hobbyist, or even a web administrator that can't build a computer.
i am brutally regretful that my first computer was prebuilt i would have much rather been forced to put it together myself, even in 4th grade if i would have been made to assemble my first computer, i would have a deeper understanding of them today
>>14
It SHOULDN'T be about bragging rights. But go onto /g/ and say you bought a prebuilt and have all legit software on your system because you can.
>>20
Oh come on you don't learn that much from building a computer, especially since the advent of PnP. I know the 4th grade version of myself would have had a difficult time finding the attention span and discipline to put our 5000 dollar 286 back together, and that's guaranteeing that all the parts are there and work together, something I wouldn't have had if I'd opened up a copy of computer shopper and bought everything myself.
The first computers I ever put together were my 286 and PCjr that I had completely disassembled down to the mechanical components in the floppy drive and put back together several times, at around attempt number 5 things stopped working right and that was in middle school.
It's funny how this whole thread is basically just ``I didn't build my computer because I'm too good to do it''. Funny, considering that a lot of the people with prebuilts probably aren't capable of building a computer anyway.
You guys probably aren't any good at programming either. It seems to me that the thing you really excel at is pretending to be intelligent, and acting like you're all high and mighty.
Building a PC is easier than cooking a decent meal, and the latter is more fun.
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Anonymous2010-12-20 12:26
>>37
Cooking a meal will save you a few dollars. Building a PC can save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars. And it only takes a couple hours to build a computer.
>>38
What are you talking about?
I don't know the definition of "building your own PC", but my understanding of it is just ordering of parts and assembling, all which takes an hour or so. What I choose to do most of the time is to save me that hour and just pay an extra 5$ to the shop for an assembly fee (other shops do it for less or even for free). How is that saving hundreds of dollars? If they were to actually charge a non-reasonable sum for assembly, I'd of course always do it myself, but as it stands, I only do it when bored or when I'm upgrading stuff, or replacing defective equipment (in the case of a motherboard or a case, one has to re-assemble most things). Either way, it's incredibly easy to do and I don't see why anyone would charge more than some 10$ for it.
I've seen some shops which sell overpriced prebuilt computers where the users don't get to pick anything, but you'd have to be an idiot to buy those.