what do you LOVE MOST about computers?

[StealthyV]

Hello, everyone at TechIMO!

I'm starting this thread with the intention that EVERYONE WHO READS THIS (including the non-members) will respond to it.
*that's right, I'm talking to you, new TechIMO-member!*

as Morpheus said: it's the Question that drives us.....

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT COMPUTERS?

What tickles your fascination with the bits and bytes and wiring and such?

for me, it's the ability to build it MYSELF, custom-made, repair it MYSELF, and continually upgrade it and tweak my system and be responsible for it. nothing feels better to me than a sucessful build; a machine everyone sees and says "you built THAT?!!!"

your thoughts, please :0)

humbly,
~Branson

[joker_927]

Hmmm..... interesting...

I would have to agree that it is the fact that I can build them myself, and make my friends drool.

The other reason why I like computers is because the possibilities are endless. Whith a console, you can only play games. With a computer, I can literally do ANYTHING. I wanted to make my own gun in CS, poped on the internet and got some tutorials.... a few programs and within a week I have newbie-looking phaser in CS!

SO MUCH!

[Uncle Bob]

Spending my time at the computer, keeps me out of the bars and brothels.

[tgxiii]

As for hardware, I like the fact that it's customizable. I can use a lot of different combinations of parts and I can also customize the looks. As for software, I like that it makes a LOOOOOT of things easier. Finding movie show times, ordering merchandise, researching for school, the possibilities are limitless. (Of course, sometimes it's frustrating when you can't get computers to work, but that's a whole other subject.)

[dafanman]

The absolute challenge of finding out what is wrong and fixing them when they dont work.

No two are alike, and unless there is defective hardware, there is allways an answer, and you just have to be dedicated,and knowlegable enough to know how to find the answer.

So I guess just the pure challenge of knowing the whats, and hows, and symptoms, and all that good stuff

[mctribble]

getting other peoples computers working and getting paid for it.

[Scott Tiger]

I just like to tinker.

Before I got my first computer I was into model planes, mountain bikes, cars, etc...

Guess it's in my nature.

[SpookyEddy]

The sex, drugs and party lifestyle that being an IT professional allows me.

...or possibly not

[jmichna]

Most of the reasons I find computers fascinating have already been mentioned....
For me:
- Abiltity to build and tweak, improve performance over default
- Fix others' problems
- Can "travel" nearly anywhere in the world, do research, find info, communicate, editorialize, chat, share photos (digital camera)
- Play! (games, puzzles, shop and make purchases... avoid Christmas shopping crowds)

[SiliconJon]

I love computers

Whenever I do ANY work on them I break out in a nervous sweat as if I were handling plutonium. And there's rarely a truely easy to fix problem. Let's not forget these overpaid programmers writing these jewel softwares that assume they're the only peice of software you own, and load 4 programs on startup for absolutely no reason, except maybe to gather info from you and sell it to other companies without you even knowing it. And then there's all these games that look so awesome, but won't let you get any decent gameplay unless you want to use the mouse & keyboard. God forbid you want to play with a wireless remote from a comfortable seat! [and that huge wireless keyboard & mouse on a breakfast stand is no substitution!] Another thing I really love is the complete lack or ergonomic design in today's peripherals. The keyboard should have been split into two peices and strapped to my hands 10 years ago. One of my favorite things, though, is despite the extreme cost of all these machines, they still don't produce quite as crisp a picture on my TV as a $99 Gamecube! A lot of that is the software though...cuz nobody thought to make some TV friendly fonts for their games/programs!

The viruses are great too, especially when they're on someone elses computer, who has never once applied a security update despite being notified every day for the past two years. Then when you scan and remove a dozen viruses and install virus software, the machine goes haywire. And when you try to update Windows, the machine either locks up or gives you an error when trying to install or run Windows Update (and of course, Microsoft's knowledge base provides absolutely no help).

And I'm NOT EVEN going to go into how competition is so busy competing that they have to desire to collaberate. Forget what would work best or be best for the customers/users. If it's possible they loose even a dollar, it's time to cut throats and make their products work only with bedfellows...

Why did I jump out of the console hobby? It was more affordable and much more reliable...*

But I'm a fool! I will stay with my computers forever, like a significant other. We have spats...but in the end no one gets thrown across the room, and things runs smoothly again...for a while.

* I know why. It was piracy that got me into computers. When I was 14 [or maybe it was 15] I got that little 286 and discovered that I could call up a BBS at night on our phone line and download that game that I had no way to afford! And lets not forget all those pretty pictures...

\end cynicism