How old are the computers in your office?

Wow. That brings back some memories.

 

You make me want to go on ebay and buy one just to try it out! Were they the early laptops? Just dying to know!

 

TRS-80's! Oh, man. That's from early youth. Radio Shack, baby!

 

If they are older than 12, people at your offices probably check for grass on the playing field.

 

At my last stop, I believe the computers were from 1983. I had to relearn how to type, because a few of the keys were in different places.

There was no enter/return key.

When our "IT guy" called to get parts, the people on the other end started laughing. When they realized he was serious, they asked him if they could just send a bunch of old parts, because they had no more use for them. Sure enough, one day a trailer truck pulls up and we now have a room full of parts.

The design computers were from 1998.

When anyone asked why we couldn't get an upgrade, the General Manager responded, "They still work. Why would we replace them?"

Man, I really did not enjoy my time there.

 

To quote Joe C from a Kid Rock song:

"Old as piss"

 

I have a great new computer, terrific flat-screen monitor, so no complaints there. But our publishing system is at least a decade old, and we're not a small paper.

Crashes all the time, and it's a poor fifth cousin of Quark. Best example I can give is trying to land a jet with both of your engines on fire and coughing hard. It's a bumpy ride down every night, and of course the crashes come at deadline, not early.

IT goes home at 7 or 8, and ya gotta wonder about that, too.

 

So my boss walks into my office, and sees me violently pounding my forehead against the keyboard.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

By the time I got through with it, I literally had three keys wedged into my wrinkes. I turn toward him, a bloody mess, and I just lose it.

"Sir, we need new fucking computers!!! I can't do my job on these machines ... They are older than my car. They function worse than a paraplegic. Hell, my virgin daughter has more RAM in her than ..."

"Are you suggesting that we're behind in technology?"

"Yes. My machine sounds like a space ship."

"Oh, I think it's fine. Your computer works just fine."

 

Well, not anymore ...

 

Very nice. A hearty LOL from me.

 

We actually got new computers at the tail end of 2006. Before that we were rocking iMacs. And since my high school library got iMacs in, I think, my sophomore year, that would make them pretty old. Most web pages were too complex for them to open. They deserved to have someone go PC Load Letter on their ass.

 

Two years ago, I left a place that still had its top editor using one of the old Apple computers where the screen rotates 360-degrees. I'm not sure what it's called. But I remember doing a search and finding that it was from about 1993. Last I heard, the guy was still using it. It's a little trade mag shop, and he almost exclusively works with text docs. In fact, I don't think his hard drive is large enough to allow him to load Quark. He has no e-mail or web access. He literally has to walk to the composition room to check e-mail or to visit a Web site. Designers have now Macs because they're special and all.