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plonq"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way. So I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."
-- Emo Phillips
I don't know which is funnier, that quote from my Bathroom Reader page-a-day calendar, or the fact that a co-worker just came storming into my office spitting fire and brimstone because his new computer from Dell doesn't include a modem.
He'd called me up on Saturday while I was getting ready for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pierrekrahn's LAN party, asking for help with his dial-up networking. I coached him through several screens, having him read me the results from each screen. Finally I said, "that just doesn't sound right. Why is it looking at port 1? Are you sure there's a modem plugged into your computer?" He insisted that there was, and that he'd even made sure that it was properly plugged into the wall jack. He'd checked the jack and the cable with a phone to make sure that they both worked.
Apparently he'd plugged a phone cord directly into the onboard LAN port, assuming that it was a modem. Obviously it didn't work. Fortunately he's ordering broadband today, so the problem will fix itself soon enough.
He was sure miffed this morning when he found out that his computer didn't ship with a modem, though. I asked him if he had the original brochure from which he ordered so that we could see if it was supposed to include a modem. He rather tartly retorted, "The ad doesn't say that it ships with a keyboard or mouse either, but one just assumes that those will be included!" I told him that most new computers don't ship with modems because most people are on broadband now.
The real kicker in all this is that his detailed invoice specifically said, "no modem" under the list of hardware. It was under the list of included hardware and software (paraphrased below)
Item number 51231 - Quantity 1 - mouse
Item number 40333 - Quantity 1 - keyboard
Item number 55290 - Quantity 1 - no modem
<blink>
<blink>
They have a specific inventory number for "no modem?" It's something out of that Hitchhiker's Guide game, where you had "no tea" as one of your inventory items.
-- Emo Phillips
I don't know which is funnier, that quote from my Bathroom Reader page-a-day calendar, or the fact that a co-worker just came storming into my office spitting fire and brimstone because his new computer from Dell doesn't include a modem.
He'd called me up on Saturday while I was getting ready for
pierrekrahn's LAN party, asking for help with his dial-up networking. I coached him through several screens, having him read me the results from each screen. Finally I said, "that just doesn't sound right. Why is it looking at port 1? Are you sure there's a modem plugged into your computer?" He insisted that there was, and that he'd even made sure that it was properly plugged into the wall jack. He'd checked the jack and the cable with a phone to make sure that they both worked.Apparently he'd plugged a phone cord directly into the onboard LAN port, assuming that it was a modem. Obviously it didn't work. Fortunately he's ordering broadband today, so the problem will fix itself soon enough.
He was sure miffed this morning when he found out that his computer didn't ship with a modem, though. I asked him if he had the original brochure from which he ordered so that we could see if it was supposed to include a modem. He rather tartly retorted, "The ad doesn't say that it ships with a keyboard or mouse either, but one just assumes that those will be included!" I told him that most new computers don't ship with modems because most people are on broadband now.
The real kicker in all this is that his detailed invoice specifically said, "no modem" under the list of hardware. It was under the list of included hardware and software (paraphrased below)
Item number 51231 - Quantity 1 - mouse
Item number 40333 - Quantity 1 - keyboard
Item number 55290 - Quantity 1 - no modem
<blink>
<blink>
They have a specific inventory number for "no modem?" It's something out of that Hitchhiker's Guide game, where you had "no tea" as one of your inventory items.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-17 11:10 pm (UTC)the thing with that, though, was that you needed to have "tea" and "no tea" at the same time in order to complete the game. and lots of fluff. The other fun thing was to put everything into "the thing which your aunt gave you" and drop it. inevitably it would turn up in your possession again, complete with contents.
but on the modem side, I'm torn between "a modem costs so little, they might as well have thrown one in as not", and "a modem costs so little, what's the fuss? just go out and buy one". I got my first modem over 18 years ago - they cost a hell of a lot more then.
and yes, I've seen the phone-line-into-lan-socket thing done before. it's not pretty. I ended up having to write dire warnings over a bank of three lan ports and one phone socket threatening death and dismemberment if anyone changed the order of the cables before it stopped. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-18 12:27 am (UTC)Thanks for nothing Plonq :)