Hope these Brits are stockpiling Valium!

R.

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Britons rage at their PCs

Tech snafus cause frustration and stress in the workplace, survey shows

May 28, 1999: 8:37 a.m. ET

LONDON (CNNfn) - Normally reserved Britons have been losing their legendary stiff upper lip in the face of technology snafus, according to a new survey.

A poll carried out by MORI on behalf of Compaq Computer Corp. found that more than 10 percent of Britons with PCs in their workplace have seen colleagues bullying technology support staff. Among younger respondents to the survey the response was even more startling: A quarter of those under 25 in the survey have seen colleagues kicking their computers.

The kicking and screaming is about to start

Stress and frustration at the time it takes to resolve technology-related problems appears to affect almost half the Britons who use a computer at work.

Swearing at computers when they suffer glitches also appears a problem. "Computer rage is now much more prolific than the more commonly known road rage," commented Professor Robert Edelman, a psychologist specializing in conflict at work.

The survey found there was a financial cost to computer failure, too. One-fifth of those polled said daily computer breakdowns caused them to miss deadlines, and one in ten claimed to have felt like badmouthing their company to clients because of frustrations with computer problems.

The survey, "Rage against the Machine", questioned more than 1,250 British workers on their attitudes to information technology.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), May 28, 1999

Answers

"Computer rage is now much more prolific than the more commonly known road rage," commented Professor Robert Edelman, a psychologist specializing in conflict at work.

At least (most of the time) computer rage can't kill you like road rage.

Of course, if the rager is able to hoist a computer over his head......

-- Ducking (don'tthrowthat@me.com), May 28, 1999.

If Cory, Sysmnan, and the other enterprise hardware and software techies are even 10% correct in their estimates of what's gonna happen on or around Jan. 1, there is going to be a rage and gnashing of teeth never before matched on this side of Iron Age.

-- Sandmann (Sandmann@alasbab.com), May 28, 1999.

Heeheeheeheeheee, thanks to MS foisting inferior stolen Windows imitations on a gullible world ...

Rage is way too mild a word for the reaction soon to explode ...

xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), May 28, 1999.

I have long been surprised at the LACK of rage toward automation. When dealing with a system that crashes repeatedly, for example, one might expect to see a resurgence of Luddites. We rarely see it.

Could it be the cost of the systems...which is going down, which may reflect the under 25 attitude? It is ok to kick a cheap computer, but not one costing your employer $2,000,000 or so.

Swearing at the computer? They don't understand swear words any more than any other kind (even with voice recognition). I know, I've tried a number of threats (as well as offering rewards)...and none seem to work.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), May 28, 1999.

Yep, I'm back! ;)

Promising rewards? Now that's an interesting idea. I know that I've screamed at my computer, I've thumped it, I've threatened it and once I pulled a handgun on it, but I've never thought of offering a reward...

Leo

-- Leo (lchampion@ozemail.com.au), May 28, 1999.

This rage is probably related to expectations, rather than actual performance. If the computers never break, no irritation. If they fail now and then, mild irritation. But at some point, failures frequent enough get you past the rage stage, and into resignation.

Where I work, we celebrate when the network is UP, and stand around the water cooler shooting the breeze when it isn't. We expect it to be down, so there's no rage. My PC at work locks up solid 2 or 3 times a day. OK, I've learned to save every few seconds (every time I stop to think), and rarely lose much.

So I think next year, when "the computer is down" becomes everyone's mantra, resignation will be the rule, and we'll do what we can when we can and be thankful for that much. It's hard to stay angry all the time.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 28, 1999.

See also

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000sjV

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 28, 1999.