# Office Space movie question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141 "2019-02-25T00:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/21 "2019-02-25T06:09:08Z")
The movie came out in '99, was written a year or 2 earlier, the frustrations of MS DOS were still pretty recent. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/22 "2019-02-25T12:52:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be fair, the first time you see this message on the printer, you could have checked the manual (and in those days, these things came with actual paper manuals) and from then on, the message would be understood. In a well-run company the manual for a shared printer ought to be kept with the printer; at Initech, Milton probably has the manual in his desk, under an apple core. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/23 "2019-02-25T13:28:40Z")
What you’re forgetting is that all printers are useless pieces of trash that never work right. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/24 "2019-02-25T13:41:36Z")
I had an old HP LaserJet 4M printer in my office years ago. As a Computer Science prof I used the “PC Load Letter” message in my classes as a prime example of unhelpful error message. Years before Office Space. I still have a (different) working LaserJet 4M as my backup/heavy duty printer. Toner cartridges are cheap now and you can print a ton on one cartridge. But sloooow. Those things last, as long as you don’t take a baseball bat to them. OTOH, they don’t have enough flair. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/25 "2019-02-25T14:22:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be fair, the first time you see this message on the printer, you could have checked the manual (and in those days, these things came with actual paper manuals) and from then on, the message would be understood. Not as easy as it could be. Manuals are notorious for NOT providing alphabetic lists of error messages with an explanation for each. This is compounded by programs or devices with software written in some intermediate language or template. Even a comprehensive list of common errors like “paper jam” or “out of paper” would omit compiler errors (“undef var line 398”) on the theory that they never happen. But they do. I have several sophisticated video cameras, and sometimes a symbol pops up on the screen that I don’t recognize. (Typically, I bumped a switch by accident.) It’s difficult or impossible to diagnose the situation because there’s no master symbol list, and even if there were, how do you alphabetize icons? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/26 "2019-02-25T15:38:26Z")
‘PC Load Letter’ was meant to alert that paper was needed in the tray, but it displayed every time the crappy printer _thought_ it needed paper in the tray. Paper jam, misaligned tray, wonky roller, toner dust, out of gas, flat tire, change for cab fare, tux at the cleaners, locked keys in the car, old friend came in from out of town, car stolen, earthquake, terrible flood, locusts…PC LOAD LETTER! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/27 "2019-02-25T15:42:17Z")
My old job had a printer with “PC Load Letter”. I quickly noodled out what it wanted (just by opening trays and the top, etc to see what looked wrong) but couldn’t have told you what “PC Load Letter” was supposed to actually mean. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/28 "2019-02-25T15:50:29Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > BTW there was an alternate ending to the movie. At the very end when Peter is working outside, the boss comes up. We don’t hear what he says in the released version but in the alternate version he is another Lumberg. I think I agree with the choice, happy ending. Would have been more poingant with the alternate. Yep. [https://youtu.be/XK43Ureuiqc?t=9](https://youtu.be/XK43Ureuiqc?t=9) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/29 "2019-02-25T15:55:01Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Right, but would any company not have back ups? Maybe some were stupid enough not to. Backups? Most likely. Off-site backups? They should, but it seems like the sort of expense that someone might deem unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/30 "2019-02-25T16:15:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > To be fair, the first time you see this message on the printer, you could have checked the manual (and in those days, these things came with actual paper manuals) and from then on, the message would be understood. I know from personal experience that 9 times out of 10 the people who write the manuals are the same engineers who wrote the software, so good luck thinking the manual is any clearer. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/31 "2019-02-25T16:37:36Z")
Similarly, I think the people who design the equipment rarely use the final product. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/32 "2019-02-25T16:44:47Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Similarly, I think the people who design the equipment rarely use the final product. See [Eating your own dog food - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food) “Eating your own dog food, also called dogfooding, occurs when an organization uses its own product.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/33 "2019-02-25T16:50:21Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > BTW there was an alternate ending to the movie. At the very end when Peter is working outside, the boss comes up. We don’t hear what he says in the released version but in the alternate version he is another Lumberg. I like it. Certainly more realistic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/34 "2019-02-25T16:50:34Z")
If they did make the error message “Out of paper”, then some clueless user would try to jam A4 paper into the tray when they were trying to print something proportioned for US letter paper, and what does the printer say then? “Wrong paper”? Then the user will try colored A4, or A4 of a different thickness, or something. You have to tell the user what kind of paper they need to load, and the kind of paper they need to load is US letter (of any color or thickness). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/35 "2019-02-25T17:17:10Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Those things last, as long as you don’t take a baseball bat to them. OTOH, they don’t have enough flair. They had the minimum amount of flair required, so what’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/36 "2019-02-25T17:34:07Z")
Just released last week: [An Oral History of the making of “Office Space”.](https://www.theringer.com/movies/2019/2/19/18228673/office-space-oral-history) ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/37 "2019-02-25T18:32:04Z")
Last year our local Alamo Drafthouse showed Office Space as a movie party, including their usual little toy props and an actual printer-bash. They put an old laser printer on the floor between the screen and row 1, gave a few volunteers a bat and actually played the signature rap song while they smashed the thing to smithereens. The toner cartridge actually exploded in a black cloud when they broke it. It left a HUGE mess. But that was a fun event. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/38 "2019-02-25T18:44:49Z")
My company once had a group of IT workers housed in a temporary workspace (read: trailer). This was in the relatively early days of PCs, and everybody backed up their own computers on floppy disks. And where did they keep the floppies? Typically, right next to their monitor. Well, some kind of critter (rat, IIRC) got into the roof, built a nest, chewed some wires and caused a fire. The trailer was a complete wreck, and all those backups were melted along with everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/39 "2019-02-25T19:14:54Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > PC Load Letter means “put letter-sized paper in my paper cartridge because it is empty.” The bits (Im paraphrasing) about “Yeahhh yeahh. Oh yeahhh thats what I want. Yes PLEASE KEEP DOING THAT.” With the copier is some of the best acting Ive seen. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/40 "2019-02-25T22:30:09Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > in my Top Ten. “my sister, my daughter, my sister.” “You see Mr Gits, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and place they are capable of…anything. “He died 2 weeks ago and 1 week ago he bought the land. That’s unusual”. I think I would have remembered.” etc etc /nitpick “Mr. Gittes” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141.md?page=3)