So you think you're computer-illiterate?
   Check out the following excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article by
   Jim Carlton --
   Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press
   Return Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key
   is. AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard
   to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the
   plastic bag the mouse was packaged in.
   Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that
   the system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes.
   After trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the
   problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then
   rolled them into the typewriter to type the labels.
   Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective
   diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along
   with Xeroxed copies of the floppies.
   A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back
   in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold
   on, and was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the
   room to close the door to his room.
   Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to
   fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician
   discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in
   front of the monitor screen and hitting the "send" key.
   Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell
   tech suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of
   friends,"the customer replied. When told Egghead was a software store,
   the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of
   geeks."
   Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no
   longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and
   water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys
   and washing them individually.
   A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged
   because his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The
   tech explained that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses
   shouldn't be taken personally.
   An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her
   new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged
   in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power
   button. Her response, "I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and
   nothing happens." The "foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's
   mouse.
   Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new
   computer wouldn't work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in,
   and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When
   asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked "What
   power switch?"

Foreshadow of Y2K?

In March 1992 a man living in Newton, near Boston,
received a bill for his as yet unused credit card
stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw
it away. In April he received another and threw that
one away, too. The following month the credit card
company sent him a very nasty note stating they were
going to cancel his card if he didn't send them
$0.00 by return of post. He called them, talked to
them, they said it was a computer error and told him
they'd take care of it.

The following month our hero decided that it was about
time that he tried out the troublesome credit card
figuring that if there were purchases on his account it
would put an end to his ridiculous predicament. However,
in the first store that he produced his credit card in
payment for his purchases, he found that his card had
been cancelled.

He called the credit card company who apologized for the
computer error once again and said that they would take
care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating
that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having spoken
to the credit card company only the previous day, the
latest bill was yet another mistake. So he ignored it, and
trusted that the company would be as good as their word
and sort the problem out.

The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had
10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take
steps to recover the debt. Finally giving in he thought he
would play the company at their own game and mailed them a
check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and
returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the credit
card company nothing at all.

A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was
doing writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation
the bank replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check
processing software to fail.

The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their
customers that day because the check for $0.00 was causing
the computer to crash. The following month the man received
a letter from the credit card company claiming that his check
had bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he
sent a check by return of post they would be taking steps to
recover the debt.

The man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer
for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.

Sent by Marina

IDIOTS AT THE AIRPORT

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate, when
the airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your
baggage without your knowledge?"  I said, "If it was without my
knowledge, how would I know?"  He smiled and nodded knowingly,
"That's why we ask."