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People in computing love to talk about the novice users who call the help desk because they cannot find the “any” key on their keyboards. Or the ones who summon help because the cup-holder is jammed, only to learn that it is really their CD tray. There are some big knowledge gaps in the computing world, and some of them are pretty funny.
Remember when you started using computers back in the old DOS days? If you did, you must have jumped over one of the biggest logical barriers ever devised - the command, ‘press enter to exit’. Think about that: enter to exit. Would any properly programmed computer arrive at that command and actually do it? Of course not. But tens of millions of people quietly and obediently went along with the command. They had to, or they wouldn’t have been able to do their work. But if computers used computers, there probably wouldn’t be many computers.
In this column, with your help, we will explore the logical inconsistencies, minor nightmares and unintended consequences that make computing a fascinating, frustrating and, ultimately, funny way to make a living.
Like the network that goes down mysteriously for ten minutes every day right around lunch-time, because the microwave oven is in the same room as the server.
Like the new user who claimed he knew how to use a mouse and proceeded it to roll it around on the screen of his monitor.
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