Allan Deonarine

masvaley @ deviantart.com

My brother has recently moved into a new place and wants to set-up a good home theater. As the tech guy in the family, he comes to me for advice. From LCD vs. Plasma to refresh rates to 3D to Blu-Ray and even the newest HDMI cable specifications. It has been a blast.

Usually when I render him advice on consumer electronics, computer problems or programs I try and keep it simple and to as few steps a possible. I ask him a few questions about what he wants to do with the product, make a decision and provide a recommendation to him. This creates less work for me, because if I lay out all the options there will be ten times as many questions about the right one. As with all advice, it helps to know the what the person wants out of your answer. If it had been one of my more tech savvy friends, I may have presented a few more options and had more of a discussion as to which path they wanted to take. In the case of this latest home theater query, he has surprised me a little in that he has done some research before asking my advice. This has resulted in a lot less work on my end, as he is already familiar with what's good and what's not.

My Brother is a smart fellow, he could find out this information himself. I think he consults me just to reinforce his decision. I generally like helping people with their tech problems because it's what I love to do. Sometimes however, there is a downside to being The Tech Guy as The Oatmeal comic below illustrates. Thankfully, in my experience, these have been few and far between.

Why It's Better To Pretend You Don't Know Anything About Computers - The Oatmeal

The Oatmeal

Click through to read the entire comic.