With the possible exception of print servers, I contend that there is no more difficult peripheral device for the average computer user to control than a printer.
Drivers, print queues, paper jams, leaking cartridges, device not recognized...the list goes on and on.
Agree, disagree or suggest your own candidate.
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Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
[John F. Kennedy]
The principal value of debate lies in the development of logical thought processes, and the ability to articulate your positions publicly.
[Senator Dick Clark of Iowa]
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
[Terry Pratchett]
Actually, I completely agree.
There's a networked printer at work that - for whatever reason - every month or two decides it no longer recognizes my IP address on the network, thus ending my ability to print until I fiddle around with drivers and IP addresses enough to get it to recognize me again.
After decades of printers being around - and, for that matter, being networked - why are they still such a pain to get set up and use?
Pro scientia et humanitate.
State Law.Quote by: HoleyCarbonGrid
No Jack I'll NOT disagree. Start a print job and find it's going to spit out 50 pages when you wanted the first only and try to stop it turns into a swearing bee. Geez.
Sometime loading mp3s to an mp3 player gets nasty. I just figure like I did in the mine that it was a poor operator that blamed his tools for his failures. But there is something to it, I think with that printer.
If the terrain and the map do not agree, follow the terrain.
When motherhood becomes the fruit of a deep yearning, not the result of ignorance or accident, its children will become a new race.
Printers are notorious for being annoying but once they are set up they are pretty much good to go - all of the non-savvy users can just click print and voila.
While not always a peripheral, the digital camera causes me the most headaches right now. The software that comes with them is typically clunky, tries to do too much, and fails at that one thing all users want to do - upload/email a buttload of pictures and videos. This is hard to do when each picture is 10MB and the video clips are 400MB. And many computer users don't understand file size. And applications that try to do it automatically for you wind up downsizing and removing the original so you have nothing of print quality.
I was surprised to discover that Windows 7 didn't even have an intuitive, user-friendly way of formatting for upload. I had to Google it and then download Live Essentials - then show my wife the steps required to do something she doesn't understand the purpose of.
That's my vote. Digital cameras annoyed me back in 2004 and they still annoy me today.
"It seems foolhardy, redolent of danger, and doomed to failure. Otherwise, I can find no fault with it." --Dickens (Nicholas Nickleby)
Does wetware count as a peripheral? I have an 89 year old mother-in-law who has a policy of disregarding every notice for upgrading software. As a result her IT staff (me) has to upgrade her machine on most visits. Upgrades sometimes cause a minor change in how a program looks, and this becomes a cause for major panic.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd - Voltaire
The end user is unlikely to find anything wrong with this USB device, but other people in the office may come to hate - or even fear - its limited capabilities. Perfect for ineffectually defending one's turf from night managers.
Battery of USB Missile Launchers - YouTube
The more you complain, the less I care about your problems.
Printers are bad, but the last few that I've used have been very easy to deal with - although they require a TON of installed before you can print anything..
"Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." | "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them." - RR
Quote removed because someone got their feelings hurt. (boo hoo)
Cell phones, no doubt. The smarter the phone, the dumber I feel. I forget where I read the review for (at the time) the new iPhone. It said the phone did everything extremely well ... except make and receive calls. Someone needs to come up with a rotary-dial cell phone for the old stick-in-the muds like me.
Had to use the wife's blackberry to call the kid the other nite. Tried sliding the cover up, pressing the green and red buttons, swiping 1, 2 or 3 fingers across the touch-screen .... all to no avail. Then she said 'Call Andre (our kid)' and the thing finally worked. Let's dumb it down a little, shall we?
Ask and you shall receive.
Portable Rotary Phone - Red
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd - Voltaire
Hahaha that's too pricey
You could always op for just the headset -
ThinkGeek :: ThinkGeek Bluetooth Retro Handset
"Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." | "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them." - RR
Quote removed because someone got their feelings hurt. (boo hoo)
When I get a printer issue at work, I immediately feel intimidated and I've been in the support biz for quite some time.
Printers are definitely my number one enemy.
"You can only see as far as you think."
Economic Left/Right: -2.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.36
Addiction is only the failure of one's will power.
I was so expecting you to say "red staplers".
The Forum Rules
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
[John F. Kennedy]
The principal value of debate lies in the development of logical thought processes, and the ability to articulate your positions publicly.
[Senator Dick Clark of Iowa]
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
[Terry Pratchett]
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