I am a retired non-engineering professional (and thus more "user-oriented", you might say).  I pretty much avoided computers -- except for word-processing programs -- until 1995.  At that time my wife and son cajoled me into buying a state-of-the-art PC (Pentium) and within a month I was "hooked".  Now I read about half-a-dozen computer magazines per month and "practice" on my computer daily, which I have upgraded (hardware and software) several times.  I have become proficient enough to help teach an introductory computer course and an introductory programming course at the U of SC (Beaufort) branch here on Hilton Head Island.