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Comment by benj111 | Hacker News Reader

Does that mean they can't use spreadsheets?

If their work has very little to do with computers, then they don't really need any functionality to do their job. So this article is kind of irrelevant.

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Most people can use spreadsheets, but only a small subset are "programming" in them, the rest are basically using it as a graphical csv editor, at best they'll have a sum calculation.

Before computer era, one of use case is librarians. They just want to store metadata into the computer for them to easier to search. Without any computer, they also get the job done. But with a computer, it's more productive for them in their job.

Search terms for older library systems (don't know what the state of the art is) can get quite advanced, and not far off programming. I've seen little old librarians construct some impressive queries, so don't underestimate 'non programmers'.

But when librarians got their OPAC systems, they started writing reports to analyse lending patterns and identify stock that was not being borrowed, and identifying lenders that had overdue books &c.

So the decrease in effort needed lead to an increase in analysis of the information captured in the system - new uses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talis_Group

I'm not sure about other regions, but in my region, non-tech users are too lazy to "program" their customized job. The reason is many, but it's just the fact to let you know. "Programming" in any kind is a hard work, and not all end-users like to do it. They're lazy to do brain work.

> I'm not sure about other regions, but in my region, non-tech users are too lazy to "program" their customized job.

You know this how? Not a single non-tech user would even try?

I would suspect that the quality and accessibility of the implementation has a huge impact on this, far more than the region or domain.

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