An interesting post yesterday from Robert over on his blog regarding the (ir)relevance of deep technical skills in a technical world. I haven’t had time to properly absorb the argument yet, but as with a lot of Robert’s writing this post moves in a way against the conventionally accepted IT Pro wisdom, which is one of knowledge and understanding of the technology. The ‘why and how’ do things work.

Although not the point of the post, the bit that registered most for me was this…

What recently used to happen on these technical email lists was that someone would post a question and someone else would tell them to use Google before they posted the question.

Now I can tell you that when I’m working through an online forum and see numerous ‘suggestions’ that people go search Google first, I for one won’t be spending much time on that forum. Sure there are times when it’s appropriate to make such a suggestion, but repeatedly patronizing posters with such a response, when they have come to your forum acknowledging the collective wisdom of the members and asking for help is not only elitist but more often than not just plain rude. As mum (probably) used to say, if you don’t have anything nice (ie: helpful) to say, then don’t say anything.