Terminal Tantrums

Until offices install padded "shouting rooms", we are going to have to resort to taking deep breaths during that split second you realise you have just lost three days work on a report that you are presenting this afternoon.

Compaq, obviously taking it personally that so many people are beating up their machines, has sponsored a survey from London research firm MORI, that states, "frustration is leading to high rates of computer abuse". Among the "typical" forms of abuse are: swearing at PCs, physically hitting or kicking the computer, bullying the IT department, absenteeism and bad-mouthing the employer. Nothing is specific as, "this Compaq is crap" then?

It goes on to say that, "workers find computer or software problems cause more than one interruption in work each day, and many said it often takes more than an hour to fix the problem. Some respondents said they had missed work deadlines because of computer problems, and many were angered by error messages that are written in technical jargon rather than plain English." But the most "interesting" deduction into why people don't like IT geeks is that: "Nearly all respondents reported swearing at their computers and IT executives said that the swearing is often directed at them, pointing to a growing rift between the IT department and computer users." No, it's because they don't wear deodorant, think NTK is funny and can never sort out the print server.

© ninfomania