Wednesday, July 23, 2014

A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter

So, how frustrating is it when stuff that's supposed to work wonderfully in this new gee-whiz techno-wizard world just doesn't?

I had another post in this space earlier, but I had to take it down because it involved a link to another blog and I could NOT make the link work using Blogger's mobile app. I tried a bunch of times and kept ending up with a broken link. Then I tried fixing it in Blogger's web version (still on my phone), but that didn't work either, so I'll use that one another time.

This all comes on the heels of some enormously frustrating time I've spent lately with Windows Movie Maker, trying to make a book trailer for PRINCESSES. All I'm doing is literally stitching a bunch of brief movie clips together just to convey a bit of what I hope the book feels like, but this makes the program choke constantly. Again, something that should be pretty easy turns out to be a headache.

So again, how do you react when even your relatively modest expectations for your technology end up going awry?

4 comments:

Jason said...

I react with white-hot fury myself. Maybe I'm naive, but at this stage of our tech development -- home computers for 30 years, more or less, Internet for over 20, wireless networks for at least 10 (maybe longer - I'm slow to notice these things) -- this stuff ought to just bloody well work, at least for casual use. And when I find myself having to pretend I'm some kind of IT expert and monkey around with configurations I don't fully understand, or reset the router, or reboot the computer, all just to watch a bloody movie, something that used to be as simple as dropping in a tape and hitting "play"... well, let's just say those who are sensitive to bad language should remain outside earshot.

the author said...

Being of the old-school typewriter generation I often blame myself rather than vent my spleen at the gadgets, and it's usually justified. This past week I took my rarely-used Nook on a road trip (as everyone says, they're great for trips so you don't have to lug a bunch of books around with you.) It promptly seized up and refused to do anything the first night. I couldn't even read the books I had saved on it. Since I don't like it I wasn't exactly heartbroken, and got to visit some bookstores to stock up on reads for the road.
But it will be the last time I take an e-reader with me on a trip; physical books are simply much more dependable. :)

Roger Owen Green said...

I got REALLY annoyed when some of my autoposts didn't post. But it's also why I'm technophobic; I EXPECT it to screw up.

fillyjonk said...

It depends a lot on:

a. Did I screw it up myself?
b. Is there something I need to do to fix it?
c. Is someone who knows what they're doing working on it?

If it's c, generally I can hang loose until whatever-it-is is fixed. (earlier this week the internet connectivity at home was out, but the company's automated helpline said that it was a "known issue" and it was being worked on. Within an hour it was back.)

If it's a, there's some mixture of embarrassment and worry. If it's b, it makes me crazy, because I don't always know what to do to fix things.

And I tend to default to "it's b" in most problems - that I will have to fix it and no one will help me. I've learned recently just to call the cable/internet helpline my company has, nine times out of ten the problem is on THEIR end and they need to fix it...