
Tales from the deskside
This is where we keep the deepest, scariest, and funniest
problems, this is where logic and reasoning have no meaning, this is where brain cells go
to die, welcome to the Deskside. We've picked few stories that exemplify human
ignorance and stupidity, so sit back and enjoy. After all, you deserve a break.
Why won't it work?
I was making a house call for a friend who knew some people who had just gotten a
couple old Tandys for their kids to mess around on, or so I was told. When I got
there I found out that they had bought them at a garage sale (never buy a computer product
of any type from a garage sale) and weren't even sure if they worked in the first
place. They also said that they had bought a game for it and when they put the
"disk" in the computer had freaked out and started saying weird things. So
after about 30 minutes of trying to find the right software and hardware (they
disconnected and misplaced the wires since they couldn't get the computer to work) I asked
to see the game that they had tried to put in, they said that it was still in the drive.
Since the only drive on the machine was a 5.25" drive, and I didn't see a disk
in the drive I was reasonably sure that these people had smoked a little too much
something (I don't know what but whatever it was, it was too much). Well, when I
looked in the drive to make sure that I wasn't getting any funky fumes I saw that they had
put a CD in the disk drive. I also found out later that the computer had been left
outside in the rain, no wonder these things didn't work! So I guess the moral of the
story is that if you know someone who shouldn't own a computer, like these people, do
everything in your power to dissuade from acquiring one. That includes any high
powered calculators (such as a Ti-85), computers shouldn't pay the price for peoples
stupidity.
Do you have a story for Tales From the Deskside? We'd sure like to here it!
E-mail it to us below. Just type it in the box provided and then click on Submit.
(The story must be true and Life-Cycle will publish at its discretion.)