5 things an “average” computer user don’t need to know!

Every field has its own set of vocabulary. You may not realize that you already talked “jargon” with your friend, officemates, schoolmates, buddies and etc. A jargon is a field-specific term that ordinary people can’t understand, the tools and technologies you use at work, expressions of the 3rd sex, terms drug users substitute for illegal drugs, activities they do and etc. As a CSR, it is illegal to use jargons while communicating with the costumer; this will not only irritate the customer, this will also hinder communication flow. Check this list of jargons that average computer users don’t need to know, and from the title itself, I will not even attempt to define it.

#1. Browser
If you think Filipinos are the only ones substituting brand name for product names, think again. Microsoft dominates the software market, 90% of the PC’s are windows based. And it’s no wonder 90% of our callers don’t know what a browser is, instead they know the familiar Internet Explorer, or worse the blue “e” icon. So it’s okay if you say “pampers” and mean to say “EQ” everybody else in that department store knows you mean to buy a diaper.

#2. Operating System
Have you been to StarBucks? If yes, then your mouth might have once watered seeing the brand of laptop the customer on the other table has, and you might have also heard anyone of your friend commenting on the guy/gal as really “rich”. Well what can we say, that guy/gal just happens to have the familiar apple icon on the back side of his computer screen. The point is, the computing world is only dominated with 3 Operating System companies, the Windows, the Mac, and the insignificant others, and your choice of brand obviously defines your financial capacity.

#3. WI-FI
Before WI-FI, I always thought people bringing laptops are people with power-point presentations. Now at least if you have the guts to make it obvious that what’s inside your bag is a laptop, they will think that you’re local ISP strikes at you again, and that the heavy rain cut-off your torrent download, and that a free WI-FI hotspot is the only remedy for your lost sanity. At least we now have an alternative to internet connectivity rather than going to the crowded internet café.

#4 Cookie
Ever wonder why after logging in to a certain site, and closing it, and opening it back, it still have the “Welcome User” greetings on top? Well, if Windows didn’t eat the cookies with your personal information on it, chances are, you are still logged in. That’s why it’s important to log out from any website you’re logged into before closing the browser and leaving your station on the café. Websites today uses “cookies” to store user information in the local computer. But don’t worry, if you think that a computer geek can dig into these files and found your credit card numbers or passwords, you’re wrong, yes they can open the cookies, but 99% of the time, they will not benefit from what’s written on it. So the rule of the thumb; if you’re using somebody else’s computer, logoff properly from any user-based websites, and logoff from the computer itself and you will be 99.9% safe.

#5 URL
You may not find these anymore with the newer browsers, the reason; they replaced it with “address” field. Yeah that’s obviously what I mean; the URL field is that box where you type google.com, Friendster.com, youtube.com and etc. Unless your not one of the few users that when instructed to type a website, gives you this reply; “I have here a list of results, which one should I click?” Obviously you typed it into the search field. Don’t worry if you don’t know it all along, the URL term has already said goodbye, programmers and wannabes are the only ones using the term.