of mouse balls and such

[Cathy Cox]

Weighing in a bit belatedly on this one - I've seen a lot of comments from 
people focusing on users who are so unfamiliar with computers in general 
that they don't understand some of the basics.  However, in certain 
instances you can also have problems with people who are so *familiar* with 
newer computers that they get into trouble.  A case in point:

In my last job, I was working at a regional site library for USF's 
Professional Studies program, where most of our students were employed 
full-time in high tech industries.  One night a student who had been 
working at a computer called me over. "I can't get my CD out of the drive!" 
she complained.  I took a look, and realized she was working on the oldest 
one of our machines, the only one that didn't have a CD drive.  It turned 
out that she had never seen a computer with a 5-1/4 floppy drive. . .

Fortunately, it was the A drive and I could get at her CD once I removed 
the outer case of the tower.

Catherine Cox
Electronic Resources Librarian
Mission College
Santa Clara, California