Intimidation

For a generation, computer users have allowed themselves to be intimidated by large, centralized management information system (MIS) organizations that function much like government bureaucracies. The personal computer is ending this era of intimidation, but in an indirect way that confuses traditional MIS management. Many MIS managers fail to understand the difference between a user and a customer. Customers pay for the service they receive; MIS services that charge money tend to be much less intimidating than free or ''funny-money'' services. Among the ways that MIS organizations have traditionally used to intimidate users are: 1. filling out forms, 2. vague or hostile error messages from information centers, 3. rude treatment by MIS workers, 4. slow service, 5. confusing computer manuals, and 6. computer jargon. These practices, which are not always intentional, will not be tolerated by users once they become customers.