Several recent studies have that found disgruntled computer users often bash their devices, inflicting damage. I can believe that.
Despite its silky interface, my laptop has some annoyingly dozy traits at odds with the movement towards so-called radical simplicity driven by computer scientist and Unabomber attack survivor David Gelernter. Indeed, the hiccups and hitches seem to stem from the murky days before Windows.
My main beef is my machine boots up slowly, like a toppled boxer staggering groggily to his feet. As I wait for the desktop's icons to materialise, somewhere a tree grows in Brooklyn, while an iceberg comes loose from a glacier elsewhere.
By the time I have the whole picture, my fingers are twitching. Sure, I suffer from 'hurry sickness': a neurotic hunger for everything to be done now - or sooner. But even so, you can only wait for so long.
My other key gripe is the stupid insistence of the system and software on forcing me to click OK under trivial circumstances. Sure, it is an IT tradition but an irritating one since it seems to assume I cannot be trusted to make a decision and therefore always need to be given a second chance.
I would love to overhaul the tendency of some programs to freeze or just act, well, screwy - at which point I have to try to remember the elaborate keyboard combination that will let me force-quit any application.
