Text 2. Using the Computer

The types of computers available are as varied as the types of musical instruments. Trying to teach someone to use a computer requires that both the instructor and the student have access to the same type of computer. It would be senseless for a piano teacher to try to teach someone to play a trombone.

There is another similarity between trying to learn to play a musical instrument and trying to learn to use a computer: in order to learn to use either a specific computer or a specific musical instrument properly, you must practise on a daily basis. One strength is that it explains some of the differences likely to be found in com­puters and in computer applications and teaches some of the tech­niques necessary to help you more easily learn to use a computer.

The biggest flaw in most computer systems is the instruction book. The instruction book for a computer system is primarily a reference document; when the user gets into trouble, he can dis­cover by reading the book what he is doing wrong and what needs to be done to get the computer operating properly. An instruction book can also be a manual that instructs a new user, in a step-by-step manner, how to run a computer system. Unfortunately, most com­puter system instruction books take either one approach or the other. They are either excellent reference books, leaving much to be de­sired by the first-time user who simply wants to get the computer working, or are written to be how-to-start-the-computer cookbooks with glaring deficiencies that become apparent when the user expe­riences trouble with the system.

Most users of a computer system routinely use only a very small part of the total features available to them. For example, one may have purchased a computer system that can compose music, write payroll checks, and trap burglars as they try to sneak in through the skylight. Although the computer can do all of these things if you buy the proper accessories for it, most users are interested in only one thing, such as having the computer only write payroll checks.

Notes

available [a'veilabl]	— придатний
access ['sksas]	— доступ
senseless ['senslis]	— безглуздий
similarity [^imi'laeriti]	— схожість
basis ['beisis]	— основа
application ^aepli'kei/n]	— використання
technique [tek'ni: k]	— техніка; технічний прийом
flaw [flo:]	— вада
reference ['refrsns]	— посилання; рекомендація
properly ['propsli]	— як слід
manual f'maenjual]	— посібник
approach [s'proutf]	— підхід
requires that	— необхідно, щоб
on a daily basis	— щоденно
likely to be found in computers	— які, можливо, будуть знайдені в
how to run a computer system	— як запустити ЕВМ
computer working...	— хто хоче, щоб він просто працював
how-to-start-the-computer cookbooks	— написані як кулінарна книга “Як за- пустити комп’ютер”