Why I mildly hate technology.

The BBQ Pit
1

Everything fucking fails sooner or later.

Routers. Routers do not work, ever. Every router I have ever had was in a constant state of battle, it was a war effort, just to maintain a slight working position. Dare I go so far as to try and trade files between computers? Foolish! The internet is something you may get occasionally if you’re lucky. My most recent router just completely broke (yay!) and now does not work under any circumstances, including astrological alignment, tidal force examination, and tarot card settings. So now anything plugged into the router that goes to the cable modem is basically as effective as if it were plugged into the dirt. Except you get a “connected” report from the software, yeah, that helps. The error messages are so very specific, they help sort out the program just so fucking quickly.

Computers themselves are even worse. My brand new computer works fine for a month, BAM! Total hard drive failure, it’s completely gone, overnight. No subtle degration, no way of getting back on, just bam, undetectable. Does plugging in a newly bought hard drive fix this and let me go on my merry way? Of course not! There must be a motherboard malfunction because in addition to the hard drive failure(s) the mouse is now not responding (the mouse works, just the plug is broken). So now I have to send that computer back to the manufacturer.

My laptop, ah you wonderful piece of crap you. This thing is powered by hopes and dreams, it runs only to vaguely appease me, and then waits until I’m right in the middle of something to freeze, see, that’s a perfect time, because it optimizes the amount of annoyance. I have to restrain myself from punching a hole in the desk and throwing this shitbox out the window.

Software, oh lovely, a game to pass the time. Yes, it works for a week or two, but after that? HA! Tricked you. Just when you started enjoying it, now you’re really fucked, a fatal error, the game cannot start, the file is fucking gone. What file, and why the fuck is it gone? Who the hell knows, my computer does not care, working is secondary to pissing me right the fuck off. Four to five reinstalls later, it barely works, yay! Now after my installation it tells me its ‘only’ a fatal error that will prevent it from running (which it does… sort of). About half the time I try to enter a server from within the game, it freezes. Isn’t it lovely watching the loading screen stop, and hear that inevitable stupid fucking loop of sound go over and over and over again and again til you feel like your brain is going to boil away with rage?

Goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit. FUCK YOU TECHNOLOGY.

I want to live in a cave.

2

You been playing soccer with your computer? Pouring diet soft drinks onto the Tab key? Throwing bricks at it? It seems like you have way more problems than the average person has. I posit that you either mistreat your computer (remember my Pit rant about the guy at work who kept kicking his computer while complaining that it was broken again?) or you bought it at K-Mart as a blue light special. Or maybe you’re just really really unlucky.

3

I chalk it up to being unlucky. I never mistreat my computers, they mistreat me. I’ve used computers most of my life and I know how to treat them. Patience is the key to using computers, yet no matter what the fuck I do they still tend not to work (including waiting for hours to see if some stupid fucking thing unfreezes before I hard to hard-boot it.)

I don’t buy from K-Mart, I bought the latest failure from internetishop.com, several friends recommended it, them never having problems with any of the computers bought there.

The laptop is a Compaq bought at CompUSA, it runs slower than molasses and nothing I do will fix the slow ass speed even though it’s a decent computer, (1.4 ghz 384mb RAM). Done all the spyware / the usual crap, defrag, uninstalling all the programs I haven’t used within the last 10 minutes, etc. etc.

I have a feeling theres a vast conspiracy.

4

I concur with tdn.

Leaving the subject of computers alone, what’s with you and routers? What manufacturer of router is it?

Having had broadband for many more years than most people, I’ve gone through many a home/SOHO router, I’ll admit that. They’re not built like commercial routers and aren’t supposed to live for ice ages. Mine last at least a year, then must be replaced-that goes for every major manufacturer of broadband router. Linksys, Netgear, SMC, Etc.

But, short of spending booko bucks on a router, I just invest the $60-100 every year or two and replace it. Simple settings to duplicate and usually by then the technology was as old as the dirt your router seems to be as effective as and there’s something else out there that’s better.

You DO seem to be hard on your machines, maybe it’s just bad mojo…

Sam

5

I was thinking perhaps an older home, with really crappy wiring?

6

If you’re reading this, thank a router.

7

And that’s not a horrible idea…

8

Lemme guess, you use Microsoft Windows, right?

9

Mac’s aren’t without their own problems. I’ve got a powerbook <1 year old that already needed a new power supply, and an older one where the wires to the power supply freakin sparked if you touched them the wrong way inside the insulation! Just a plain old power wire, but becaue of the fancy design, it wasn’t tough. Good product with some poorly designed peripherals, too much sizzle, not enough steak.

10

Are you here pitting overly- or underly- specific error messages? “Something’s wonked” and “#exception: 0 in byte #00168324” are equally useless, though oppositely specific…

11

I fail to see how a comment about software has anything to do with a thread predominantly about hardware.

But then, Rjung would NEVER be snarky and petty about computers, would he? Nah, never!

12

What does that have to do with anything? PEBKAC doesn’t care what OS you use.

And what are you doing to the routers? I had my last one for two years and never had a minute’s trouble with it. In fact, the only reason I replaced it at all was that 802.11g is fconsiderably aster than 802.11b - and we share a lot f stuff on my home network. And the new router - a “Windows powered” Microsoft MN-700, mind you - has worked without fault since I first turned it on back at the start of May. I plugged it in, configured the settings and restarted it… and have been online 24x7 since (seriously - I have a problem with Bittorrent! Anybody wanna have an intervention???).

Maybe you live over a huge vein of some magnetic metal?

13

Do you have this equipment on a voltage-regulating UPS? Because I used to replace modems, hard drives, and motherboards about every 6 months, until I finally bought one. There was nothing else obviously wrong with the power and I never had a bit of trouble with consumer electronics or anything else electrical - only the computer. One thing I also learned is that minor power fluctuations CAN cause your software to have unexpected “hiccups” without totally crashing the computer, so maybe it explains those symptoms too.

I’ve had my router running for a little over two years. In that time I’ve had exactly one evening of downtime, and it was the ISP, not the router. It wasn’t a name-brand router either - cost me $12.

14

If not a UPS, at least get surge suppressors. My old house wiring fried a monitor power supply and an old motherboard before I got wise.

15

I’m on my third router in as many years. They’re good routers (Linksys, all three), but eventually the power surges get to them. My indication that I have a problem is that I suddenly go from blazing fast cable modem speed to I-wish-I-had-dialup-cause-it-would-be-faster speed. The first time it *really * sucked because it took me more than a week to figure out it was the router (actually, I believe **Dangerosa ** figured out it was the router, she being the networking professional of the house).

So mayhap a new router would solve the problem. As for the system issues, have you done a complete reformat and reinstall of a clean Windows? The version you get on a Compaq from CompUSA is crap, loaded with all kinds of stuff you will never use. If you can get your hands on a copy of Windows XP Pro, use that.

Oh, and since this is the pit, fuck. Been wanting to do that.

16

Not that this will make you feel any better (and I can identify; I’m getting tired of sinking mucho bucks into my vehicle, which apparently hasn’t run without problems for more than three months at a time for as long as I’ve owned it), but failure is a necessary element of technological design. Read Henry Petroski’s To Engineer Is Human for the eye-opening truth.

17

Hey, it’s the BBQ Pit, I’m allowed to have some cheap laughs. :smiley:

I don’t believe all the problems listed in the OP are PEBKAC issues.

18

This is why I love technology - job security :smiley:

Anon - Geek for Hire

19

I’m guessing it could be the power, my house has pretty old electrical wiring, but I use a surge protector. My laptop just broke, I was installing new anti virus software (just wanted to make sure the old stuff wasn’t malfunctioning or something, and after the reboot to do a scan, it crashes every time I try to reboot, used an emergancy CD to try and get it working again, that only made it worse, now it only boots up to the very beginning, then gives me a flashing symbol and just stops.

I am NOT hard on computers, I don’t know of anything I do that could be considered hard. I never mistreat the hardware (ie kicking it, that’s just stupid) I don’t think I mistreat the software. The hardest thing I do with computers would probly be running many programs at once, but even that doesn’t make any sense, since they slow down sometimes when I’m using just one computer.

Ironically enough, I’m on my brothers computer posting this, he screws up his computer worse than I do (no firewall, kicks it sometimes, reboots randomly in the middle of things) and his works perfectly, never had a problem. It’s just not fair. :frowning:

Oh, rjung, all the macs I’ve used at different schools have been ridden with problems. The only OS that seems to be reliable is Linux, or maybe it’s just because all the people who use linux are really good at solving computer problems…

20

Even buildings with modern wiring can have electrical problems, as I’ve discovered by examining the log on my BackUPS. Ryle Dup, I suggest you invest in a good UPS, since they provide emergency power, surge protection and “smoothing” of electrical current. The surge protector you have only protects against sudden power spikes, whereas a UPS makes sure that the current feeding into your power supply is consistently level (and yes, house current can dip as well as surge).

Personally, I use APC. They have a good reputation, and when I had to replace my last UPS, I was able to ship it back to them (free of charge!) for proper disposal. I think that’s pretty neat.

That said, I have to admit that I seem to have a real problem with power supplies–I usually have to replace them every year or so. However, that’s happened no matter where I live or how the computer is connected to house current (straight to the wall, surge protector, UPS), so I’m beginning to think it’s something to do with me.