Why are Computers so damned hard to use?

[heyheysg]

Are we still at the cusp of emerging technologies?

Maybe motor cars used to be like this when they first came out, they worked most of the time, but no one knows how they work, only dedicated people can fix it and it doesn't work as well as it should.

I'm no old fogey and I can fix a computer if I want to, registry issues, hardware problems, RAM, peripherals, firmware, bugs, viruses.

BUT I DON"T WANT TO, I paid for the damn thing, the software, hardware and IT SHOULD WORK.

I shouldn't have to call the company's hotline to talk to some guy half way around the world to get something that has been working for the past few years to work just because their company released something that messed up something that affected something or other and since mercury is in retrogade etc S**)*@NLN(#$N!!!

I can see the older generation of people just giving up.

 

[Starnerf]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

 

[Robby Foxfur]

I feel yeah man this sounds like the first couple of months with my BRAND NEW laptop. i have a feeling its just to make the people half way around the world feel like they aren't a total waste of time and space. That's about all i can get out of it, they are there to fill space and take up time and sadly since they are there i don't think the problems with these complex machines will go away in the next few years.

 

[Amnestic]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

Excuse me Sir, I have a /thread for you? Please sign here and...here, date here and initial here? Thanks very much. Enjoy your day.

Every piece of machinery breaks down at some point. That's why you repairmen and fixer people still have jobs.

 

[Abedeus]

I think my dad would share your view if it wasn't for me.

There was a time where I would ask him for help when doing stuff near PC... But that ended about 5 years ago, when I installed a graphic card for the first time in my life. Now I wouldn't even trust him with something as trivial as installing a new HDD or changing RAM.

But you might as well complain that "modern wristwatches are so complex, with electronics and so on - it was better in the old days...".

You had cars, we have computers. Every generation has something new that is best at. Can't wait till I get to charge people for fixing their crap.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

Excuse me Sir, I have a /thread for you? Please sign here and...here, date here and initial here? Thanks very much. Enjoy your day.

Every piece of machinery breaks down at some point. That's why you repairmen and fixer people still have jobs.

I can't really expand on that much more. So instead, I'll leave you with this thought:

How the hell do you think Link managed to operate with the Matrix? Do you think that was easy? Those little green codes are hardly user friendly!

Yeah, computers are complicated.

 

[CIA]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

I am now imagining computers as a series of pulleys, levers, wheels and axles.

Anyway, sort of on topic: Hex, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, is the embodiment of everything that is screwed up about computers. He is my favorite character.

Anyway, actually on topic: I really like fixing my computer. It makes me feel accomplished.

 

[Emilie Diabolica]

dangnammit, elaine, the electric-thinking box doesnt work as a toaster!
rubbish, i'm going to play bowls instead...
newfangled bollocks they're making these days, i dont know.....

*grumbles while hobbling away*

 

[cleverlymadeup]

wow your analogy totally fails

cars have NO need for servicing or maintenance, they NEVER EVER need repairs, they NEVER break down. also car models NEVER have an issue, they don't have to have recalls or other things.

 

[Tartarga]

Because Bill Gates is trying to take over the world by fustrating all of its inhabitants.

 

[Uncompetative]

How the hell do you think Link managed to operate with the Matrix? Do you think that was easy? Those little green codes are hardly user friendly!

Yeah, computers are complicated.

Not a lot of people know this, but the Matrix is programmed in the Chinese version of APL. Here is Conway's Game of Life (horizontal English):

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

DING!

 

[LeonLethality]

They're complex machines. Every complex machine has problems. There's no way any developer could program their software to work perfectly with every possible hardware and software configuration that an end user might have.

thats what I say about modern video games people complain about how they can be buggy but its because so much goes into them but I agree as technology advances ther will always be bugs and other problems

 

[johnman]

I dont find an issue with them, I fact thats one reason I love them so much.

 

[DigitalSushi]

How the hell do you think Link managed to operate with the Matrix? Do you think that was easy? Those little green codes are hardly user friendly!

Yeah, computers are complicated.

Not a lot of people know this, but the Matrix is programmed in the Chinese version of APL. Here is Conway's Game of Life (horizontal English):

No its not, Werner Heisenberg and Neil Bohr would like a fucking word with you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_mechanics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neils_Bohr

and lastly, this link, check it out... its called "Matrix" and was devised by Heisenberg under tutelage of Bohr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_(mathematics)
looks familiar doesn't it?

edit, you said its programmed but I did that obnoxious thing of quick reading and thought you said it was BASED on, I'd like to apologise.

Bohr would probably still want you to step outside and demand satisfaction since you didn't mention him.

 

[Nincompoop]

No really comment on the actual thread.

But a huge fucking Lol to the

I shouldn't have to call the company's hotline to talk to some guy half way around the world to get something that has been working for the past few years to work just because their company released something that messed up something that affected something or other and since mercury is in retrogade etc S**)*@NLN(#$N!!!

I readily laughed my jaw out of socket, so, internets for you.

 

[Fasckira]

I'm no old fogey and I can fix a computer if I want to, registry issues, hardware problems, RAM, peripherals, firmware, bugs, viruses.

If you are as competent as you say you are, you surely should realise why they're not so simple. I think if anything, these days machines are a hell of a lot easier to use. I still recall the joys of trying to get an ATi card to work under linux - properly - or trying to install a new external soundcard on Windows 95.

 

[DigitalSushi]

wow your analogy totally fails

cars have NO need for servicing or maintenance, they NEVER EVER need repairs, they NEVER break down. also car models NEVER have an issue, they don't have to have recalls or other things.

Hahah, brilliant.

Ever heard of a PBCAK?, its an error message my friends in IT like to give out, its Mnemonic stands for "Problem Between Chair And Keyboard", ei. Its an issue with the user being too fucking thick to operate a computer.

 

[GrinningManiac]

My Dad's from the eighties Build-It-Cho-Self-Boy! generation

He built a Tangerine (no, you plum, the computer, not the fruit)

He's pretty damn good with this stuff, though I was pleased when I found the problem with our possessed WMP that popped up over and over, and you could never close it or get off it.

Turns out it was a faulty message sent out by the touchpad on our Razer keyboard

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

wow your analogy totally fails

cars have NO need for servicing or maintenance, they NEVER EVER need repairs, they NEVER break down. also car models NEVER have an issue, they don't have to have recalls or other things.

Cars dont randomly crash by themselves 10 times a day

And to save you time il add "i see what you did there"

I personally think if they went the extra mile and made a PERFECT pc that never has faults they'd make mroe money than they would from 3 crappy ones. I dont see why they dont.