Sunday, September 14, 2008

Computers and Cats, A Comparison


Computers are not intuitive like living creatures. I can state this because I was having a conversation with someone that was having a problem with her network. Her company was getting ready to replace the system with a new one and every day more and more problems came up on the old system. She said to me, “you’d think the old system would behave better in an attempt to save its skin.”

I replied and told her the problem is that the system doesn’t have skin. Things with skin behave differently. I went on to tell her about a cat that once lived with us. He was a lazy mackerel tabby who never had any interest in mousing or even chasing moths.

One day we brought home a new kitten as a companion for him, and he immediately though we were going to replace him. For the next month he reliably came home with mice to lay at the door step. There were no fewer than four mice offerings every day.

Sooner or later he figured out that his tenure with us was not in jeopardy so he quit mousing all together.

Anyway, I suggested that my friend fast-track the replacement of her network because computers have no feelings of loyalty, what so ever.

10 Comments:

Blogger Auntie said...

A "cat" post, Guy?

8:05 AM  
Blogger Uncle Walt said...

Another reason why Artificial Intelligence is a baaaad idea. Imagine the havoc your AI-enabled computer could make, if it thought you were going to replace it with a newer model.

8:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We threatened to replace my cat, he turned around and peed on me!

10:58 AM  
Blogger The Guy Who Writes This said...

Auntie, more of post on the psychological aspects of abandonment issues. And what, you can paint and write about dogs and I can't write about cats?

Walt, is there an ex wife story there wanting to get out?

Anon, that's what cats do when they get crazy and insecure.

11:02 AM  
Blogger JustRex said...

Ah, ailurophiles..... Look that up in your old Funk & Wagnalls! Guy, this goes back to your last post about naming things. I believe the word is "animism". The belief, or sense that inanimate objects will respond to you with emotion. Like th guys who name their guns or their cars. "Yep, Betsy's a good old girl, she's never let me down. Have ya' darlin'?" I've never suscribed much to it myself, but we did have a can opener once that I'm sure wanted me dead.....

3:40 PM  
Blogger Mike S said...

My PC hates me most of the time!!

12:52 AM  
Blogger The Guy Who Writes This said...

Some people believe in God and UFOs, so maybe it isn't a far jump away when you combine the two. Many people worship technology. But that's a whole other post.

Mike, it seems like you and your PC would benefit from some counseling.

5:43 AM  
Blogger weese said...

We have cat allergies in our house. If only we were also allergic to PC's, then we wouldn't be able to have them either.

9:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The true question is what is the gender of the computer. It could be female cause only their creator understands their internal logic..the language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else...even the smallest mistakes are stored in their long term memory for possible later retrieval...and as soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

On the other hand...maybe it's male cause in order to do anything with them...you have to turn them on...they have a lot of data but are unable to think for themselves...they are supposed to solve problems, but half the time they are the problem...and as soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.....

Moose...thinking that Guy...you should write what you want. That is what you're good at. Where would Vonnegut or Brautigan be if they wrote only what they thought wouldn't offend people...bastards...rat bastards...all of them

4:17 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

dood it sucks.

All my data on my secondary hard drive up and bit the dust the day I set up to transfer to a new puter I had secured just for the occasion.

It knew.

7:31 PM  

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