the network.
|
Remember
the days when you bought a computer and a monitor and a printer, hooked
them
all up, and it just worked? And it did
everything you needed? And it was
stable? The
trend in computers has been to tie everything to the network, and I
think it’s
a mistake. Why won’t it print? Because the network is down.
Or, the network is so complicated that only
specially trained and certified computer dorks can set it up, correctly
checking or not checking every single appropriate box in every
mysterious
submenu. OK,
so I like being able to print to the high-quality printer down the hall
from my
office, and on the rare occasion that I can get a connection
established from
the lab to my office it’s nice to be able to move data files over the
network
instead of on a floppy or USB stick. But
it’s such a headache establishing that connection that I don’t bother;
I’m
going back to my office anyway, so it’s easier to just sneaker-net my
data. When
it’s working, yep, it’s great. When it’s
down or (more likely) just behaving in some inexplicable way, it’s
rotten. And the thing is that it’s gotten so
complicated that most problems can’t be self-diagnosed. I suspect
it’s a case of the IT guys
protecting their turf, ensuring their employment by setting things up
in such a
convoluted way that no one else can fix things when they break.
But then maybe I’m just cynical and paranoid. |