UNGEEK people- those for whom IT always goes wrong

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cddt

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#3255185 1-Jul-2024 15:31

neb:

A large amount of IT equipment and/or software is unfit for purpose...

I am genuinely frustrated that 25 years ago we had word processors and spreadsheet programs which ran fairly well on the hardware of the era. Now twenty-five years later we have computers which are roughly 10,000 times more powerful, but the software is has made only marginal improvements. Twenty-five years of hardware development in the workplace has mostly been squandered on changing icons and the ever more annoying iteration of the useless "smart assistant"...

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Behodar

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#3255186 1-Jul-2024 15:34

Yes. The sheer amount of bloat is absolutely staggering. I've seen an estimate that IT bloat generates as much CO2 as the entire airline industry, and if reality is even half that then I'm amazed that more people don't vote with their wallets.

alasta

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#3255187 1-Jul-2024 15:41

neb:

A large amount of IT equipment and/or software is unfit for purpose, but as geeks we have the inclination and patience to fiddle with it endlessly until it sort of works most of the time.

The problem is that when an IT person hacks things to make them work they tend to need regular intervention to keep them working and people like me just don't have the necessary skills. That's why we end up constantly hassling the help desk.

I don't really understand why it's all so complicated given that I only use my computer for very basic stuff like emails and spreadsheets.

alasta

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#3255188 1-Jul-2024 15:42

cddt:

I am genuinely frustrated that 25 years ago we had word processors and spreadsheet programs which ran fairly well on the hardware of the era. Now twenty-five years later we have computers which are roughly 10,000 times more powerful, but the software is has made only marginal improvements.

I honestly thought that my work laptop was 20 years old, and was gobsmacked when an IT person told me that it was only a couple of years old!

neb

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#3255194 1-Jul-2024 15:51

cddt: I am genuinely frustrated that 25 years ago we had word processors and spreadsheet programs which ran fairly well on the hardware of the era. Now twenty-five years later we have computers which are roughly 10,000 times more powerful, but the software is has made only marginal improvements. Twenty-five years of hardware development in the workplace has mostly been squandered on changing icons and the ever more annoying iteration of the useless "smart assistant"...

I still use a Word 97 manual for reference because nothing they've added since then is of any use to me, and the printed docs back then were actually pretty good. Twenty-five years later Master Documents still corrupt your work, you still can't added cross-references to footnotes, page header/footer formatting is still a crapshoot, but at least they've changed the icon animations twenty times in that period.

Seriously, if you scratch the surface of Word whatever-it-is-now you'll find Word 97 or possibly even Word 6.0 under the surface, as a word processor it was more or less feature complete back then and all they've done is rearrange the decorations on the UI over and over again while ignoring fixing decades-old bugs.

SaltyNZ

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#3255196 1-Jul-2024 15:56

neb:

cddt: I am genuinely frustrated that 25 years ago we had word processors and spreadsheet programs which ran fairly well on the hardware of the era. Now twenty-five years later we have computers which are roughly 10,000 times more powerful, but the software is has made only marginal improvements. Twenty-five years of hardware development in the workplace has mostly been squandered on changing icons and the ever more annoying iteration of the useless "smart assistant"...

I still use a Word 97 manual for reference because nothing they've added since then is of any use to me, and the printed docs back then were actually pretty good. Twenty-five years later Master Documents still corrupt your work, you still can't added cross-references to footnotes, page header/footer formatting is still a crapshoot, but at least they've changed the icon animations twenty times in that period.

Seriously, if you scratch the surface of Word whatever-it-is-now you'll find Word 97 or possibly even Word 6.0 under the surface, as a word processor it was more or less feature complete back then and all they've done is rearrange the decorations on the UI over and over again while ignoring fixing decades-old bugs.

And whatever you do, don't try to just get Word to center a picture on the column, as opposed to centre on the column in a random place within +-15 pages from where the picture was inserted.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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cddt

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#3256143 4-Jul-2024 08:00

Behodar:

Yes. The sheer amount of bloat is absolutely staggering. I've seen an estimate that IT bloat generates as much CO2 as the entire airline industry, and if reality is even half that then I'm amazed that more people don't vote with their wallets.

The vast majority of their people don't care about climate change enough to alter their spending decisions. That's why Temu and their ilk are so successful.

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SaltyNZ

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#3256145 4-Jul-2024 08:28

cddt:

Temu

😡

Ugh. I see all the Temu texts in our new SMS antispam system and my finger just itches to hit the "Spam" button and do New Zealand a favour.

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Rickles

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#3256149 4-Jul-2024 08:43

Go ahead and delete/block .... whatever happened to 'no private emails or internet use whilst at work using work machines'?

SaltyNZ

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#3256154 4-Jul-2024 08:52

Rickles:

Go ahead and delete/block .... whatever happened to 'no private emails or internet use whilst at work using work machines'?

Unfortunately I refer to the SMSC used by all 2degrees customers, some of whom apparently want to be SMS spammed by Temu ... so "legit" it remains.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

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MikeAqua

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#3256209 4-Jul-2024 11:48

I have a guy in my team, who has resisted technology as long as I have known him (~20 years). All training efforts have failed to help him. Total PITA from a business perspective.

Mike

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