This piece on Gamepolitics -- the completely unpartisan website focused entirely on truth, justice and not at all becoming offended by anything I might ever type -- reveals some not-so-shocking truths regarding our consoles and/or the inanity of the average American person.
According to a study by research group User Centric, the parental settings found in our consoles, televisions, cellular phones and digital video recorders are as difficult to use as the almost-cliche timing settings on the VCRs of the late-80s, only now we're lacking Alf to crack wise about our ineptitude. Here's a quote:
Failure rates were high: 31% (DVR), 36% (mobile phone), 42% (V-Chip), and 47% (game console). Across all four devices, parents and children had similar failure rates when setting up parental controls. Participants who reported prior experience fared no better than those who had no experience.
Several participants failed to set up parental controls because they were unaware that they had to perform an extra step to save and then activate their selection. Parental control interfaces failed to provide sufficient visual cues on whether a specific rating was successfully selected or automatically saved as the current setting.
Overall, User Centric found that participants' lack of understanding about ratings compromised their ability to successfully set up parental controls and that parents may be more confident than they should be that the controls are properly set.
Obviously more needs to be done to create user-friendly systems of parental control for these new technologies if we're going to be relying on them to keep the Jack Thompsons at bay, but personally, I'd like to see a study on how many children of those people studied can set up the parental ratings. Perhaps the issue isn't that the mechanisms are too complex, but that adults just aren't spending the necessary time learning the ins and outs of the new technology invading their homes.
What do you guys think? Is this a case of overly complex systems or of overly stupid, lazy citizens?
[Via Kotaku]
Contest:
2:24 PM on 10.02.2007
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Very Stupid..
Something about educating an elderly canine on novel procedures...
Secondly, If you really know how to use your device (in my case a PC), then you can really restrict the other users actions...
I have two small choldren in my house, and everytime I am asked to put it on a channle, it's either cartoon network or nickaloden. As long as you do not force your children to sit there and watch "Muder after dark". Then you should be fine regardless of how technologicly dumb you are.
But for this, it's mostly a case of not caring I think. If they really wanted to watch over their kids, they will.
So, the question is, are people stupid and lazy (I think this has as much to do with laziness) and most just don't get tested, or is it just parents? Maybe the process of having a child increases your risk for dumb.
tis a sad world, really.
Honestly though I don't think that anything has gotten any "easier" per say. The amount of difficult equipment has just quintupled. I feel like this will be less of an issue in a few generations when all the oldies finally pass away and we're stuck with people who only ever remember color tv.
Kids who understand the rating system more than the parents do will grow up and do a better job setting up parental control for their kids. I expect the results to change in 15-20 years' time.
It’s easy for people like us to call the prior generation stupid, but you have to give them a break. My parents grew up in India, and while they both had TVs, they certainly didn’t have any media devices hooked up to them. Also, I keep trying to convince them of the merits of HDTV, but they’re both like, “We don’t care”/“We can’t really tell the difference.” While it’s maddening to hear that on my end, what are you going to do? It’s akin to learning a new language, or anything else, really — it gets harder and harder to do it as you get older, and especially once you’re not a kid anymore.
@ Nex: I miss the pic of you wearing glasses.