General purpose computers fail. They fail at such an astounding rate, that it has become part of the user experience. Everyone knows how to get windows out of an inconsistent state. The first solution in tech support is �restart the computer�. Even my mom knows about Ctrl-Alt-Delete. As computers venture further out into the world of appliances, we find ourselves dealing with these failures everywhere. It�s somehow acceptable to �reset� your answering machine, your Tivo or even your microwave. The reason I mention this? My iPod just locked up on me. I had to reset it by holding down �play� and �menu� for a few seconds. Just when you start to regard these little computers as appliances, they remind you of their roots. It make me wonder� as computing becomes ubiquitous, will we make computers more stable, or will we simply learn to live in a fragile world?

Labels: Programming

posted by Bryan at 4:38 PM