"I would, but as Corky_O stated there is no direct quote attributing the statement to either of the Google execs. However, the author of the article states that Norvig later clarified his statement, and stated that it was not Berners-Lee or his group that was incompetent but the *average user*.."

And the 'later' part of that quote follows that statement by the CNet reporter, wherein he points at web developers and network administrators. It may seem like splitting hairs, but the whole point of your article is that a Google exec was dogging general computer users as incompetent.

I just think that when you accuse someone of saying something you ought to at least be able to point to where they said it. You have to read articles with the intent of seeing the bias of the person who wrote it, dividing the reporter's words, and bias, from the quotes.

It may seem like no big deal on an out-of-the-way forum on a relatively out-of-the-way website, but when you type (Norvig incompetent) into Google, this is the third link that comes up.

Different people are talented in different areas!

Indeed, Trudy! Some people have no need to be literate at a computer, so it'd be a waste of their time to be as knowledgeable with them as most of us are. For some people, being l33t will not contribute much to their lives just as knowing how to speak Chinese will not contribute much to my life (although it will probably be helpful to the US ambassador to China).

A lot of us 'grew up' with computers more than others. I showed a website I made to my grandma, and she had no clue what she was looking at. She thought I made the whole computer itself. My mom is unable to distinguish the difference between signing onto AOL and logging onto Windows.

A lot of computer users are 'morons' to some, but in some ways it would be like Stephen Hawking saying we're morons for not knowing what the heck he's talking about. There would be no, or very little viruses, spyware, worms, etc. if most computer users were 'competent,' but it's unrealistic and insulting to dismiss the 'general user' as incompetent.

"...but it's unrealistic and insulting to dismiss the 'general user' as incompetent."

...and I'll be happy to join in on the condemnation when someone can show that Norvig did.

Well I have to agree, most computer users are incompetent from my observations. They think that since they can log into myspace and maaaaaybe edit their myspace, they are master computer users. Just my two cents  

I agree that a lot of users would go onto something like myspace and say "I've just made a website!" and it's a load of flashy images that give you a seizure, then they think they are computer gods. However to go as far as saying most are complete ignorant twits is a bit over the top and quite unfair. My neighbours, for example, are an old couple and they've got savvy with something we have in NZ (no, I'm not a kiwi ) called TradeMe, which is NZ's version of eBay. They can send e-mails and surf a few websites and that's all they need. They aren't exactly the greatest computer users in the world, heck they can't even find a card game on Google, but they know enough to do what they need to do, and however they decide to go about it, it clearly works.

As for the Google guy, yeah he's right, but the way the thing about the general user was put in there, personally I think that was the reporters opinion subtly added in; that happens a lot.