[lyner]

When you sit at your computer - even now , as you read this, what do you believe you are talking to? Where are things happening?
I tend to get cross with a region just a few cm behind the screen - Durr - it's a vacuum!
I never wanted to kick the box under the desk or, nowadays, to thump the tiny Mac Mini over on the left of my monitor.
All systems use so-called metaphors to help the user;  e.g windows, folders, mouse pointer.
Some of these really get in the way of understanding what is 'actually going on' but does it matter?
Why do people still DOUBLE CLICK internet links??
Why do so many people use their applications to select files and not use the windows in their operating system?
Whaddya think?

[daveshorts]

Personally I prefer the command prompt for finding files... because if you know where the file is and you have an operating system with tab completion it is faster...

So sometimes the old way of doing things is harder to learn but quicker once you have learnt it. Other times it is about the cost in mental effort of learning a new way of doing things. If it ain't broke don't fix it. This is especially true of computers because if you half know how to do something the possibilities of messing lots of things up are huge.

[DoctorBeaver]

I've been working with computers on and off since 1979 so I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that they are inanimate objects and not the malicious bas***ds they appear to be at times. At least the business end of things is generally right in front of me these days; unlike when I started where the 256K RAM computer itself was the size of a house and locked away in a ivory tower half a mile from my terminal.

Oh the joys of trudging across the carpark to the other building and then queueing outside the window of the computer room until 1 of the pointy-headed Tefal men inside deigned to pass me my printout, which was usually similar in size to a folded duvet. And as for trying to decypher core dumps - oh ecstacy!

The business end isn't always right in front of me these days, though, as I write a lot of SSIs (server side includes), which means the processing takes place at some anonymous place on the internet. I do, however, make sure that wherever I host a site, I get good quality, 24/7/52 tech support that does not work via premium rate phone calls.

But, generally, if things go wrong now it is because:-

a) I've been stupid and made a coding error
b) I've been stupid and tried to use a Microsoft program
c) I've been stupid and expected Microsoft IE to implement standards correctly

Whichever it is, it's my own fault for being stupid so I tend to shout at myself.