The Luddite

Let me be clear from the Beginning, I am a Technologist at heart,
I love Technology, I mean really what is there not to love?
Here I am sitting in a comfortable house while outside it is dark and raining yet I am dry, well lit and warm. 
I have sanitation par excellence all I need to do is flush the toilet and all that horrible stuff just goes away.
I get Sick, break a leg, get appendicitis and again some marvelous Technology gets called into use to diagnose my problems, view my broken bones or keep me alive during surgery.
I don't Brush my Teeth for 6 months and get a Cavity, and some absolutely Brilliant Technology gets used - Have you thought of how tough a filling has to be? and non Toxic as well!
I need milk, it is dark and raining all I need do is hop in a car, start the engine, drive to the shops and back all very cosy, warm and (mostly) Dry.
Really who what is there not to love?

But there is an Insane side to it all....
Yes I know, there is the Dark side, the pollution, destruction of Forests and all that great stuff (Sarcasm for anyone who missed it) and that may well be a topic of discussion down the Track (well maybe several as there is plenty of scope to cover there alone) but I was thinking more of the poor or inappropriate design, the false expectations, the misrepresentations and Downright dishonesty the strange assumption that Technology can bypass the laws of physics, But worst of all is the acceptance of this madness not only by the users but by people who shoul know better.....

This is basically a chance for me to express my opinion (or is that vent ?) of the madness I see around me every day.

Working in the IT&T industry by day I increasingly get the feeling that very few people actually have a good grasp of how all this stuff works - oh yes there are people who are degreed to the hilt and who (on paper at any rate) make me look like a ... well,
very ignorant person BUT as often as not I get the feeling that many of them do not even begin to understand the basics.

At one point I was asked to interview prospective Employees, all of them recent graduates in Telecommunications, so I prepared a series of questions (OK,OK for anyone with the misfortune to be interviewed by me I will add them to this section) starting with the Basics and building up to more complex.

To my horror none of them could answer the basics! yes they could quote TLA's and RFCs* until my head spun but the basic ideas that underpin the technology?
Let me be very clear on one thing (and for any students of Technology out there take the time to understand this basic idea and it will serve you well):

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A  COMPLEX IDEA! - ANY IDEA THAT APPEARS COMPLEX CAN (AND NEEDS TO BE) BROKEN DOWN INTO A COLLECTION OF SIMPLE IDEAS. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE SIMPLE IDEAS THE COMPLEX ONES BUILT ON THEM SHOULD MAKE SENSE AS WELL.
this is to say if an Idea or concept looks or sounds complicated then that means that you do not understand one (or more) of the simple ideas it is made up from. Of course reading RFCs does not help much either as many of these are so badly written.

Anyway I digress....
Before you explore my writings (or ravings) I should probably briefly mention the Luddites.
Why would I call myself a Luddite? Weren't they anti Technology?

The Luddites were the (supposedly) followers of a man called Ned Lud (it is uncertain if Ned Lud actually existed or not) and it turns out that the luddites were not anti Technology as is popularly supposed but rather they were more concerned about the effect of the technology of the day (weaving frames) on Society .

Ok let me explain this (and any Historians please feel free to correct me).
In the 1600's someone came up with the idea of weaving stockings (a popular item of clothing at the time) on frames rather than weaving them by hand.
This meant that they could be woven faster and by less skilled labor than was otherwise required.

Weavers using these Frames could therefore sell their stockings cheaper than anyone else, undercutting and driving the competition out of business.
The Luddites did not like this idea - not the use of the frames (as is popularly thought) but more the undercutting of Competition in fact while the Luddites burnt and destroyed many Frames they were known to leave weavers alone who did not undercut their competitors

* Three Letter Acronyms and Requests For Comment