The first problem is "regular" people never got the idea what a computer was actually ever for. They first heard of these behemoths that ran on vacuum tubes and took up a whole room. The lamestream media decided the best thing to do was to tell everyone that "computers r smart-ish" and of course, now everyone dreamed of a future where we had computers everywhere doing stuff for us - and well, here we are. So I'm here to give you the best intro in the history of human civilization to computers and comput-ing.

All a computer is is a giant calculator, a machine, an assemblage of parts, like your phone, or your car, or your fridge. It does not run on "magic", and it cannot make decisions on it's own. The frightening part is other people can MAKE it seem like that, but otherwise, it's just a benign inanimate object like any other. It takes PEOPLE to make these things the atrocious mess. Honestly, I believe there's a little misanthrope in all us I.T. people as a result of this fact alone.

What is a computer for then? Well, obviously, all the crap your phone can't do efficiently because of a tiny, singular screen, no keyboard, no mouse. THings like web-based-research, writing a full proper letter, creating a spreadsheet that's more than 2 columns wide and not a throwaway, editing pictures, computer aided design, 3D printing, playing large scale games that are more immersive than anything a free Paywalled DLC platform whore "App" can do. And, at least in the case of IBM Compatible PCS - and yes, I still sometimes call them that - you have SOME control over what the device does and how it works (though that keeps getting less and less every year). Basically put, that dusty box with a screen you've been neglecting in the corner for the past 10 years because "iPhone".

Computers come in many flavors: like Apple, Microsoft, and Google, but they all basically taste like greed, planned obsolescence, and authoritarianism if your someone like me who actually LIKES to use their machine beyond as a glorified typewriter and TV set. Linux is an exception, that one tastes like Elitism and Nerd/Geek Culture Wars - which is why they excommuniccated me from the church of nerd and I willingly walked out. Don't rely on Nerds, they're just as bad as Hipsters, maybe worse.