RTFM

I had a cultural discussion about the differences between Indian and American programmers, which may to explain the reason that the software industry is becoming dominated by South Asians. Simply stated: they bother to read the manuals.

The take on this was that Americans in general like to play around with things without taking the time to understand them. An Indian will study the documentation intently, studying to learn its every feature and function, even before launching an application. An American doesn’t bother to read the documentation or work through tutorials to learn to operate software – a practice so widespread that most companies don’t bother to provide either for the North American market – but instead, launches the application and fumbles about, trying to learn by trial and error. And as such, he does a lot of things wrong or inefficiently, and seldom discovers the full capabilities of the software.

He felt very strongly about this, as evidenced by the level of emphasis he placed on it and the rhetoric he used. He even went so far as to draw an analogy to giving an iPhone to a monkey, who will try to use it to crack nuts and, when he fails, to proclaim that the iPhone isn’t a very useful device because it won’t do what he wants it to do. Very uncharacteristic for a South Asian to overcome his reticence and propriety, but I think it speaks to his conviction.

Try as I might, I can’t refute his argument: Americans, by and large, really are bumbling idiots when it comes to technology, and design attempts to accommodate this by watering down the capabilities software and making the user interfaces “intuitive” – so in the end, it’s so simple that even an idiot could use it – and the degree to which software companies succeed only further discourages us from bothering to read documentation.

And granted, the argument is based on stereotypes. I’m sure that there are Americans who study the manuals and Indians who leap in headfirst, though it would not be typical of their respective cultures. And I’m also fairly certain that these modes of behavior are evident in other cultures. I expect the Germans are very studious in their approach, whereas the Spaniards perhaps are not. But I do have the sense these assertions are generally true of the respective cultures, and Americans and Indians are likely two cultures that personify the archetypes of the studious user and the bumbler.

I also have the sense that this is something that has evolved in our own culture over time. A person could not achieve much success if they were to merely fumble about with personal computers in the early 1980’s– prior to the Mac/Windows GUI. To do anything at all, you simply had to read the manuals to understand how the device worked. And I suppose this is among the reasons computers didn’t become popular until the knowledge needed to operate one was reduced to primitive point-and-click actions.

And perhaps because I’m old enough to have been a user of the early computers that I remember the transitional period when more people started fumbling about with computers. The IT department at most companies started out with the technicians who installed telephones and replaced the toner in the photocopiers – not the brightest fellows in the world, but very focused in their work, and humble enough to realize that they had to read the manual to figure out how to make things work.

So perhaps the difference between the studious user and the bumbler is simply a matter of humility. Regardless of their experience or intelligence, a person who accepts that there is much they do not know and is willing to invest the time in thinking before he takes action will invariably win out over the person who is arrogant enough to believe they were born with the innate ability to do anything they want without having to ask for directions.

And where humility is concerned, I can think of no two cultures that better embody the extremes of humility than the Indians and the Americans. So all things considered, it does make a lot of sense that the former surpass the latter in having the inclination to be more circumspect and studious, and are steadily gaining control of the information systems profession.