computers so complicated?

Has anyone else thought about computers, and why they are so complicated. They are the most unpredictable thing that i can even think of. But, they should be the most reliable things ever. Computers and everything of that nature were created to make everyones lives that much easier correct? well sometimes they just seem to make my life much more difficult. Yes i understand that a system of that many components could never be that predictable.... but i was just wondering if anyone else has ever thought about this. Ok, post your thoughts here. Also, please lay off the ridiculing of any sort. This thread is meant for civil discussion.

You should ask a mod to move this to the general computer related discussed section....but until it gets moved

Yes computers are supposed to make things easier, and they do. The thing is they make everything so easy, when they don't work we don't have any skill sets or anything else to fall back on to get the job done...so it's that much harder.

The computer increases a persons capability, and thus increases expectations for things to get done.

Believe me, they do make your life easier, in more ways than you realize. Your life would be much different without the computer.

Yea, I agree. Computers do make our lives easier. They are that complicated. They sometimes don't function properly because of all the garbage we install on them, but hey.. that is just me talking.

i do appreciate how much easier they make my life.... but it seems to me that computers should be more predictable. I don't know tho, i just was thinking about it. and yes ukjent, half the time that they don't function properly it is our fault.

Any of the time they don't function properly it's "our" fault, in a general humanity sense. They are predictable in that they're perfectly logical. They can't be anything else.

What exactly do you mean by more predictable? Less confusing problems?

Computers still rely on user input to work. If the basic input is incorrect, it will complicate things by interpreting the data as it sees it (frex, a command that is technically correct, but not the desired entry through misspelling or poor training) and/or throwing an error message which itself can be unhelpful.

Dreamstalker said:

Computers still rely on user input to work. If the basic input is incorrect, it will complicate things by interpreting the data as it sees it (frex, a command that is technically correct, but not the desired entry through misspelling or poor training) and/or throwing an error message which itself can be unhelpful.

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Bingo.

Computers are only as reliable and predictable as we humans make them.

And now it's time to throw windows out the window

Yup. Computers are logical and utterly predictable as designed. It's just that their human operators feed them illogical, inconsistent, or flat-out incorrect data/instructions, and that's when they go cucoo.

Have I contemplated it before? Heck yes. I'm a programmer. I get to deal with my programs doing "unpredictable" (eg, buggy) things all the time.

As long as the hardware is stable, a computer is 100% predictable. It follows its instructions and data exactly. The problem is that instructions and data are rarely perfect ("Hello World" is probably one of the few usually-bug-free programs). Think of all the logic problems (as well as outright errors!) that could be crammed into a small 5000 line program. Now think about how many could creep into a fully running computer (Wikipedia says Windows XP has ~40 Million lines of code)

JigPu

Never typed a letter on a typewriter, eh? Do it and you will pray to whatever deity you pray to that you never have the misfortune of being sans computer, no matter what your qualms with them may be.

Also, the weakest link in today's computer "chain" is the user. Today's computer hardware is generally very stable, very easy to set up, and just plain less likely to break than the crap back in the day. The same can be said for the software.
Computers today are nothing compared to back in the DOS days. Even Windows 95 was a pain in the butt compared to 2000 or XP, nevermind how slow the computers were (even if they seemed fast at the time).

If you ask me, it's not that computers are hard to use, it's that people are getting soft with all this cushy convenience.

Being old enough to remember a time without computers helps to put this question in perspective. Yes, home PCs are complex because they have open ended tasks. There are simpler computers out there that do one task very well such as the computer in your car's engine or the one in the game console on your TV. If computers could not be made reliable, the entire banking and stock market system would never use them in a zillion years.

TheLiberalTruth said:

Never typed a letter on a typewriter, eh? Do it and you will pray to whatever deity you pray to that you never have the misfortune of being sans computer, no matter what your qualms with them may be.

Also, the weakest link in today's computer "chain" is the user. Today's computer hardware is generally very stable, very easy to set up, and just plain less likely to break than the crap back in the day. The same can be said for the software.
Computers today are nothing compared to back in the DOS days. Even Windows 95 was a pain in the butt compared to 2000 or XP, nevermind how slow the computers were (even if they seemed fast at the time).

If you ask me, it's not that computers are hard to use, it's that people are getting soft with all this cushy convenience.

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Most problems can be traced to PBKB....person behind keyboard!

JimmyG said:

Most problems can be traced to PBKB....person behind keyboard!

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Definitely. People love to blame their incompetence on the poor computers. They can't stand up for themselves and say, "It's not me, this damn fool couldn't operate a toaster!", which is usually the case. XD

PBKB is so totally true

As a web developer i can tell you the only people causing issues with computers are dumb *** end users, and me trying to code complicated apps at 4am in the morning.

both cases its a human at wheel causing issues regardless of computer experience. Nothing is perfect, especially that made imperfect by imperfect beings.

leon123 said:

Has anyone else thought about computers, and why they are so complicated.

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Yes, I don't think the computers themselves are complicated, I think what's involved in programing on the other hand is the complicated part.lol

leon123 said:

They are the most unpredictable thing that i can even think of.

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I'd have to disagree with you there...I'd have to say women fit better into that.LOL

leon123 said:

But, they should be the most reliable things ever.

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I don't know if I'd go that far, computers where built as a tool like any other, to help us do every day tasks easier. Really the only things that I can count on for reliability are, death, taxes, and the sun rising & setting every day in my life time.lol

leon123 said:

Computers and everything of that nature were created to make everyones lives that much easier correct? well sometimes they just seem to make my life much more difficult. Yes i understand that a system of that many components could never be that predictable.... but i was just wondering if anyone else has ever thought about this. Ok, post your thoughts here. Also, please lay off the ridiculing of any sort. This thread is meant for civil discussion.

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But yeah I've thought about it & yeah while they are a tool they where created by man & man is imperfect & flawed therefore anything we create will also be flawed in some way.

Edit-Ok exception to the above statement, thongs, no flaws to man there they are perfect.

Edit #2-Darnit ok I guess there is a flaw there too with them thongs and overly obese people...big big flaw...*shudders*




Sorry not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just so damn bored right now at work jumping out the window is starting to sound really good about now & this thread kinda sparked a creative sleep deprived muse in me. LOL