On 27 Sep 2016, at 12:14, Mark Andrews wrote:
I'm yet to see a set top box, DVR, TV, games console, phone, etc. that
didn't require selecting the WiFi SSID or require you to plug
in a ethernet cable.
I've 'seen' tens of millions of them, worldwide.
You're generalizing your particular connection/personal provisioning
model.
As I said, they don't magically connect to the network. Someone did
something to permit them to connect.
That someone quite often isn't the end-user. And as noted previously in
this thread, even when users themselves do this, they promptly forget
how they did it, lose the documentation, etc.
Why do you think people are incapable of calling in someone to help
them fix a known issue.
1. Because they demonstrably don't.
2. Because it's not perceived as a 'computer problem' - it's perceived
as an 'Internet problem', and the 'Internet technician' = the broadband
access operator's help-desk.
3. Going along with the line of reasoning you've expressed, it seems
that the user should call a 'lightbulb technician' when his
Internet-enabled lightbulb is causing a problem. Do you really think
that's realistic?
4. In most cases, the user won't have any idea which connected device
is causing the problem. Expecting the user to determine this by
trial-and-error is unrealistic; most people don't even understand how to
troubleshoot electrical problems by trial-and-error, much less
Internet-related problems.
You are a self-selected specialist, and understand all these things and
have a DIY attitude, because you're an expert in this field. Most
people aren't experts in this field.
Ask yourself how many people set up and use 2FA for any online service
which supports it, on their own initiative (i.e., not having a bank ship
them a pre provisioned dongle). The number of people capable of doing
this troubleshooting for themselves is roughly equivalent to the number
of people who've successfully set up 2FA on their own initiative.
-----------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobb...@arbor.net>
