Tweet
A guide to man-machine interface
A guide to man-machine interface
USER-FRIENDLY
C:\ DUR
Command not found. Try retyping
USER-HELPFUL
C:\ DUR
I don't understand DUR. Do you mean DIR ?
USER-UNFRIENDLY
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
USER-HOSTILE
C:\ DUR
Ha! A mistake! I'm sure you meant to say FORMAT, so
that's what I'll do.
USER-INDIFFERENT
C:\ DUR
DUR?
USER-PATRONIZING
C:\ DUR
Now, that's not quite right is it? Let's try again;
this time, use the manual that the nice salesperson
gave you when you bought me.
USER-OBSEQUIOUS
C:\ DUR
I'm so very, very sorry but I don't understand that.
I'm sure it was my fault, but if you would please try
again I'll do my best.
USER-SARCASTIC
C:\ DUR
Well, Look who's made a mistake then. Very unusual, I
don't think.
USER-INSULTING
C:\ DUR
F*ck off
C:\ DIR
F*ck off
USER-SMUG
C:\ DUR
No
C:\ DOR
Nope
C:\ HELP
No
C:\ PLEASE
Not unless you give me a 300Mb hard disk to live on.
C:\ B*ST*RD
Abuse will get you nowhere
USER-ANALYTICAL
C:\ DUR
What makes you say that?
C:\ A TYPING MISTAKE
How long have you been making these mistakes?
C:\ BANANAS
Do you like bananas?
C:\ I LOVE THEM
Why do you bring up the subject of love?
...etc
USER-McDONALD
May I help you please?
C:\ DUR
I'm sorry but that command is not available at this
time. Have a nice day.
C:\ DIR
Will that be an MS-DOS directory?
C:\ YES
To read here, or for printout to take away?
C:\ HERE
Thank you. Have a nice day.
USER-MEGALOMANIAC
C:\ DUR
Don't bother me with trivial requests. I'm busy.
------------------------------------------------
Computer Messages: what they say and what they mean by
it
Press Any Key.
Press any key you like but I'm not moving.
Press A Key.
Nothing happens unless you press the 'A' key.
Fatal Error. Please contact technical support quoting
error no. 1A4-2546512430E...
... where you will be kept on hold for 10 minutes,
only to be told that it's a hardware problem.
Installing program to C:\...
... And I'll also be writing a few files into
c:\windows and c:\windows\system where you'll NEVER
find them.
Not enough memory.
I don't CARE if you've got 64 MB of RAM, I want to use
the bit below 640K.
Cannot read from drive D:...
...however, if you put the CD in right side up...
Please Wait...
...indefinitely.
Directory does not exist...
....any more. Woops.
The application caused an error. Choose Ignore or
Close.
....Makes no difference to me, you're still not
getting your work back.
USER-FRIENDLY
C:\ DUR
Command not found. Try retyping
USER-HELPFUL
C:\ DUR
I don't understand DUR. Do you mean DIR ?
USER-UNFRIENDLY
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
C:\ DUR
USER-HOSTILE
C:\ DUR
Ha! A mistake! I'm sure you meant to say FORMAT, so
that's what I'll do.
USER-INDIFFERENT
C:\ DUR
DUR?
USER-PATRONIZING
C:\ DUR
Now, that's not quite right is it? Let's try again;
this time, use the manual that the nice salesperson
gave you when you bought me.
USER-OBSEQUIOUS
C:\ DUR
I'm so very, very sorry but I don't understand that.
I'm sure it was my fault, but if you would please try
again I'll do my best.
USER-SARCASTIC
C:\ DUR
Well, Look who's made a mistake then. Very unusual, I
don't think.
USER-INSULTING
C:\ DUR
F*ck off
C:\ DIR
F*ck off
USER-SMUG
C:\ DUR
No
C:\ DOR
Nope
C:\ HELP
No
C:\ PLEASE
Not unless you give me a 300Mb hard disk to live on.
C:\ B*ST*RD
Abuse will get you nowhere
USER-ANALYTICAL
C:\ DUR
What makes you say that?
C:\ A TYPING MISTAKE
How long have you been making these mistakes?
C:\ BANANAS
Do you like bananas?
C:\ I LOVE THEM
Why do you bring up the subject of love?
...etc
USER-McDONALD
May I help you please?
C:\ DUR
I'm sorry but that command is not available at this
time. Have a nice day.
C:\ DIR
Will that be an MS-DOS directory?
C:\ YES
To read here, or for printout to take away?
C:\ HERE
Thank you. Have a nice day.
USER-MEGALOMANIAC
C:\ DUR
Don't bother me with trivial requests. I'm busy.
------------------------------------------------
Computer Messages: what they say and what they mean by
it
Press Any Key.
Press any key you like but I'm not moving.
Press A Key.
Nothing happens unless you press the 'A' key.
Fatal Error. Please contact technical support quoting
error no. 1A4-2546512430E...
... where you will be kept on hold for 10 minutes,
only to be told that it's a hardware problem.
Installing program to C:\...
... And I'll also be writing a few files into
c:\windows and c:\windows\system where you'll NEVER
find them.
Not enough memory.
I don't CARE if you've got 64 MB of RAM, I want to use
the bit below 640K.
Cannot read from drive D:...
...however, if you put the CD in right side up...
Please Wait...
...indefinitely.
Directory does not exist...
....any more. Woops.
The application caused an error. Choose Ignore or
Close.
....Makes no difference to me, you're still not
getting your work back.
