I've always wondered why the people I know who are most into computers seem to be the ones who are most likely to swear at them volubly.
I think I've finally figured it out.
These people have spent embarrasingly large amounts of time learning how to be efficient with computers. They have tweaked their hardware (and upgraded various unpronounceable bits). They have installed extensions, adaptions, and in some cases compiled their own operating system for that noone-has-one-quite-like-me-quality. They have installed obscure programs which promise to monitor the hell out of their performance so they can make it even faster. They have probably spent time figuring out how to make the cursor blue and the typeface for *everything* bright red. They may even have learned to touch type.
And then the damn thing responds like a angsty teenager doing household chores. Maybe it is processing some dreadfully large and important problem somewhere in its depths. Maybe there is some horrible conflict between the aims of two of the programs. Maybe some bit of hardware is self-aware and trying to explain to the microphone socket that it doesn't have to take just any input. Who knows? All that is experienced at the user end is the computer equivalent of playing Wagner on a penny whistle.
Posted by carla at June 25, 2004 07:02 AM