A Man and his Penguin

I’m currently reading the Computer Stupidities website, and I thought I’d relate some "Technology Stupidities" that I’ve heard.

Customer: I’m interested in the Sony Bravia XBR series.
Me: That’s not a problem, but you do know that the only differences between the X and the XBR are that the XBR is more expensive, and the frame around it looks different?
Customer: My son told me I should get the XBR series, because it’s got a faster motor.

(This is wrong on so many levels; firstly, the "Bravia Engine" that he was referring to is a picture enhancement chip on all models; secondly, the thing that is "faster" on the higher models is the frame rate; and thirdly the X and the XBR have exactly the same frame rate).

Friend: Whenever I try to check my e-mail, the same three e-mails come in. I think I’ve got a virus.

Grandad: Can you teach me how to send air mail?

Customer: Will I need to buy a digital DVD player?

Errr… what do you think the first D stands for?

Tanja: Can you install this virus for me?

(I think I’ve mentioned that one a lot

Boss: You-bun-too. It sounds a bit like an African word.

Me: It *is* an African word!

Gruff lady: My set-box turns off every afternoon at 2:15!

I dive into the settings and find that the "off-timer" has been set, so I disable it.

Me: For some reason, there was an off-time set; that is, at some point someone has told the set-top-box to turn off at that particular time. I’ve disabled the off-time now, so you shouldn’t encounter the problem again.

Gruff lady: Show me how to do that.

I talk her through the menu system; press Menu, then press the down arrow until it gets to System, then press Enter, then press the down arrow until it gets to Time Settings, then press Enter, then press the down arrow twice, then press the right arrow, then press the down arrow, then press what time you want it to be, then press Enter.

Gruff lady: I must’ve pressed a wrong button.

I resisted the urge to tell this very rude old lady that she would have to press 18 wrong buttons in order to set the off-timer.

Customer: I heard Channel 10 will start broadcasting in digital on Sunday.

We get a lot of people who want to buy something to be able to watch one show while recording another, in High Definition digital, and output the result to DVD. When we tell them that such a machine doesn’t exist yet, they tell me that they’ll "keep looking". Its non-existence doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t buy one?

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 16th, 2007 at 4:42 am and is filed under Technology Stupidities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.