Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Something to explain most of my problems

Computers suck.

Okay, I suppose mentioning that I have made a living for the past nine years in what is ostensibly the "Information Technology" field lends some creedence to the assertion above. Or completely undermines it. Or both. However, the greatest frustrations stem from these silly amalgamations of circuits and disks and little 1's and 0's--or rather, from the unrealistic expectations built around them.

So the next time you're encountering some technological malady, remember the explanation is simple.


All I know is this: We were not meant to live this way.


[We now return you to your regularly scheduled existence, already in progress.]

1 comment:

  1. OK - I have to chime in now (you will shortly be regretting the "comments feature", if you aren't already doing so...).

    Computers were created by people (gasp!). Basically, we did this to ourselves. Don't blame a computer when something goes wrong. They only do what you tell them to, and are sadly non-intuitive (lacking "Do what I mean" functionality). They are capable of being labor-saving devices (imagine if this blog were hand-written and individually mailed... or carved into granite), but they aren't a toaster. They must be cared for. When data is lost - it should have been saved (and backed-up). When something "gets" deleted, or cannot be found, you can generally bet that human intervention was involved. These errors are a small representation of those that commonly occur between the chair and the keyboard.

    However simple Microsoft or Apple try to make them look, these are complex machines that take specific skills to maintain and operate correctly.

    Does this mean that I want to return to my pre-computer existence? Absolutely NOT! I work on these abominations for a living, and I like what I do. But you cannot blame a car because you failed to put gas in the tank, or drove it into a wall (with the obvious exception of mechanical defects).

    So be nice to your computer. Give it a hug - it could probably use one. Also, be nice to the computer geeks who help you make it work. Give them a hug, too - as they could also probably use one. And if you are one of those computer geeks... I feel your pain. Accept the hug from whomever asked for your assistance, and then kick a computer later (we have that right).

    ReplyDelete

So, what do you think?