Things aren't always the same

Submitted by Rick on February 17, 2006 - 6:29pm.

A client of mine made a great observation today about computers. She put into words something that I have tried to articulate for years. I'm paraphrasing, but it went something like this: "The trouble I have with computers is that they don't always react the same way twice."

"Wow", I thought....great statement. Unlike cars or toasters, computers have many more complex instructions going on at the same time. In fact hundreds of thousands of instructions are going on at any given time when you use your computer. And the scary thing is that these instructions are DIFFERENT for every single computer.

"Why?", you ask. The plethora of hardware & software configurations is why. Every computer has a different set of software installed, different hardware connected to it, different level of maintenance & security, different environments, and different user experience levels. You can learn how to a do a particular computer function, but some new change may cause one of the steps you memorized to be out of place.

The moral of the story is that we like structure and rigid, consistent instructions. However, with computers, we must have a little flexibility and accept that the way we do something today may differ a little tomorrow. And it certainly may act and look a little different on someone elses computer. In order not to drive ourselves nuts with these machines, relax and don't get too stuck in a routine. Learn to roll with the punches the computer throws at you.

Another scary thought is that cars are becoming more computerized every day. Mercy.

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