by Bob Lloyd

Created on: February 20, 2010

Despite the many obvious advantages to using computer technology, often it can leave the user angry, frustrated and feeling useless.  Despite our best efforts, sometimes the technology just doesn't do what we want it to.  It behaves as if it has a mind of its own, wilfully ignoring our intentions and either producing the wrong results or refusing to work altogether.  And the more frustrated and angry we get, the less we understand what is going on.

Of course there are many reasons for the way we feel, some justified and some less so.  We approach every piece of technology with an expectation that it will work the way we want it to, and the way it always has.  When we turn on the TV, we expect to be able to select the channel, adjust the volume, and so on.  Each time we turn it on, we want it to behave the way we expect and know.  It's the same with our car.  When we get in, we expect to be able to control it exactly as we did last time.

But computing technology is in a state of almost continuous change.  Our computers receive updates every time we use them.  New software is installed, often new versions of existing software, each time we use a new device whether it is a camera or a printer, a scanner or a webcam.  Each of those devices is different from the previous one sometimes in subtle ways.  And each new version of a program is different too.

Our expectation that technology works consistently the same way is violated continually by computer technology, both in hardware and in software.  As competition drives the need to add more and more functionality, our devices become more complex with more features, and the software becomes more laden with additional options.  In software it is known as bloatware.

With the increased sophistication comes an enormous opportunity for frustration.   Whereas in previous versions we knew which menu contained the option we want, we now have to learn the interface again, understand the subtle differences in the new program, learn a new way of doing what we already had mastered.  In some cases we have to unlearn what we already knew and that in itself is frustrating.

As we buy a new computer we become aware that the connectors are now subtly different too.  We have different cables, we now use USB and Firewire, and we can sometimes do away with cables altogether with wireless communication such as Bluetooth.  Each purchase means coming

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