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Have you noticed there's a slight drift away from tech boys talking about making things so simple their moms can figure them out? I've heard more references lately to grandmas. Sorry, it's no better in my book because we're still talking about a female held up as the clueless one. And, sorry, the fact that it's usually guys who are saying it gives it meaning. I still like the idea of calling this representative icon, "Uncle Charley." Though, now I think of it, he was the housewife on My Three Sons. Lovable character played by William Demarest -- eh, maybe he was more like the household's wagon train cook than a housewife. Either way I'd like one in my home.

Couple days ago, Dave Winer made friends with a bunch of women by saying he was tired of people talking about how their mother wouldn't understand something.

In Philadelphia (the movie), the Denzel Washington character said "Explain it to me like I'm a 4-year-old." That might be a substitute for using "your mother" as the lowest common denominator user.

Anyway, sometimes I think too much is made of dumbing things down. It may not be just women of a certain age who are not respected by some confident young purveyors of technology tools. If they're thinking "we have to make this idiot-proof," aren't they thinking that their audience is the hoi polloi, the great unwashed?

I've been around that attitude in companies and organizations, and it makes me uncomfortable to hear employees disrespecting customers -- the source of their income, and their ultimate boss. I worry that the attitude may subsciously creep into dealings with customers or tend to dictate disrespectful strategies in approaches to them.

People will rise to the level of expectations of them. You shouldn't drag the majority down to the level of the least aware. It's insulting.

Here's a post from almost a year ago that tells about dumbing down instructions on the web.

I'm not saying you shouldn't write carefully, and you shouldn't make things as clear as they can be. But too often you get one or two complaints and you are tempted to change things to make sure everybody gets it.

Take the person in the linked post who was all up in arms on receiving a mailing list subscription confirmation. She thought I was trying to trick her into buying a magazine subscription. In the end there were more than 2,000 people on that list of community planners of local National Safety Month events. I should use this one paranoid, irritated user as the model for dealing with all the others? I don't think so!

G4, the cable channel for gamers, has added The Man Show to its programming lineup. If you have young sons and you know what this show is about and you're at all opposed to misogynism, you'll deplore this move as much as I do.

Here is a description of the show from the website:

Adam and Jimmy may have introduced the red-blooded American male pastime of watching girls jump on trampolines, but you haven't completed your male education without indulging yourself in the cultural traditions of Japan, where panty-viewing joins moon-viewing as de rigeur for the sophisticated gentleman.

It's a revival. The show used to be on Comedy Central.

My 16-year-old tells me gamers 14 and older who don't have girlfriends all are horny and love this stuff. I guess it's the 9-year-olds who watch the channel that I'm most concerned about. You pair this sexist content with the cool gaming stuff they admire and you don't need a Ph.D. in sociology to understand that it adds up to boys learning that sexism is cool.

When I've half-watched the channel as Aaron is watching, I've admired the channel's choice of the female hosts, hip and a little punk, smart and equals. By adding The Man Show I think they've indirectly objectified these young women.

The whole thing makes me furious.

Later... Looks like at least one guy thinks it's a horrible idea, too. I didn't realize G4 had its roots in TechTV. I wonder if Chris Pirillo has an opinion about this.