People Feel Loyalty To Computers

stoobthealien writes "According to BBC News researchers have discovered that people have loyalty to specific computers because of a tendancy to associate "human attributes to them" - and I thought it was just me that speaks to my PC...."

I know what they mean

[Erect Horsecock]

My iBook loves me. No, really! My iPod told me so, it said the iBook was just shy and didn't think I felt the same way.

But I do....

<3

Uhhhhhh

[ev1lcanuck]

What I feel towards my Windows box is something other than loyalty....

Unrequited love

[rueger]

Sadly our computers seem less inclined to share that love...

"Open the pod bay door HAL...."

Wow

[sydb]

This could lead to an over dependence on electronically-generated news and information.

Ground breaking stuff for slashdot.

next! <hits CTRL-R>

The real secret

[Anonymous Coward]

People given the option of a range of PCs tended to have favourites, with some even prepared to wait in line to use a particular machine.

Now we know which one had the hidden stash of pr0n!

Computers and Fashion

[Anonymous Coward]

All I know is, my computer has a much better fashion sense than this guy from Penn State...

(plaid on plaid! I mean einstein could do it, but that ain't exactly the same!)

Don't piss them off....

[ThrudTheBarbarian]

Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate it when you do that.

Computers have loyalty to people, too

[Anonymous Coward]

My computer loves me! It never breaks down, and well it feels sick, it lets me know.

But, actually, I think some people may produce more... harmonious fields... that computers may pick up/interact with. I can't count the number of times I've "fixed" a computer by just being around it.

Re:I know what they mean

[LostCluster]

Just be careful... I've seen some Macintoshes go into a state of suicidial depression. First they start being sad all of the time, and when they're sad they're demanding attention before they'll work again. Then they start pulling bombs out of nowhere...

Ulysses Ship... err Computer

[WombatControl]

Of course, this also presents an interesting conundrum. My current computer has had every single part replaced since I bought the first iteration way back in 1998. Of course, not everything was replaced at the same time, but rather a gradual process of upgrades over the years.

So, is it really the same computer I started with? Or is it really some kind of sinister imposter only pretending to be my computer?

Names?

[QEDog]

How many people name their computers? I do, and it takes me a bit to figure out names for them. I refer to them by their name usually, which causes my non-geeky friends to stare at me. Any one else does this compulsively? What is the name of your computer?

Re:Ha!

[Gangis]

That didn't last long... Ten minutes and two trolls already. Experiment successful.

Re:Names?

[thelenm]

Yep, currently I'm typing on Gandalf the laptop and dinking around on Pippin the Pocket PC, accessing the Internet through Sauron the wireless access point and Aragorn the firewall, while my wife plays games on Eowyn the PC, my daughter plays games on Gimli the other PC, and Samwise the web server silently does his job in the background. Legolas the old web server lies disemboweled on the floor after an unfortunate shield-sledding accident.

Re:Don't piss them off....

[spektr]

Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate it when you do that.

Mine takes it easy. It's just a running gag between us: he inhumans me, I anthopomorphize him, and so we have fun all the work day long...

Re:Names?

[DissidentHere]

We do (did) were I work (which is a small company so we get away with lots of stuff). We've go Vinny, Bubba, SonOfBubba, a few more. We found a old baseball card of some guy named Bubba something with a HUGE plug of chew, and taped him to our server.

Its good to laugh a little when you connect to a network share. And you don't have to remember if that folder is on MN04523 or MN04526. Granted, in a large enough institution you will run out of names and/or offend somebody by naming a server butmunch.

Of course computers have human attributes

[Anonymous Coward]

Mostly skin flakes and hair.

Re:People like sitting in the same place

[cscx]

students for the most part tend to seat themselves in more-or-less the same positions anyway

You're right -- it's usually "right behind the hot blond chick."

Re:Not all computers in a lab are the same

[Anonymous Coward]

One for example freezes every 95 seconds after you login

You should upgrade to Windows 98, it needs 98 seconds to freeze up.
OTOH, professional use Windows 2000. Half an hour of uninterruped work...

This is already happening.

[imbaczek]

The tendency to treat computers as human could lead to people favouring or even blindly accepting computer-generated information, to the point of depending on it over superior alternatives, warned Prof Sundar.

This sounds dangerously familiar. Just look at all those people who helped those poor Nigerian guy, or buying all those en.la/rg.em\ent pil|s, or checking out who loves them...

I won't even bother mentioning Slashdot... oops.

Re:Loyalty to machines

[Anonymous Coward]

Automobiles are like dogs. They let us down sometimes, they misbehave at inconvenient moments, and we're sometimes angry at them for being a nuisance. But for the most part they're loyal to us. And we love them more than the neighbor's even if the neighbor's is prettier.

Computers are like cats. They're cute when they're brand new and purring along. After six months you realize they're useless and plotting to kill you. You want to kick the stupid thing out the window.

Re:Apple Gets It

[wkitchen]

Dodge also Got It in a big way back with the Neon, though unrelated to cars.

It must have been pretty awful to be considered "unrelated to cars".

My 1984 Volvo is known as Destroyer of Worlds

[Oncogene]

Bah, everyone knows that electronics and machines in general function better when you name them.

Isn't that right, Sasha? *pats iPod*

Re:Unrequited love

[Simonetta]

If she would be willing to open the pod bay door more often, then I'd be happy to activate her more often.

Re:Apple Gets It

[Anonymous Coward]

Doh... must... read... preview :) I had an excuse though, I had cinnamon rolls in the oven, whose tasty temptation can not long be denied.

Re:This is a suprise?

[Snork Asaurus]

People feel irrational loyalty to operating systems too.

In the case of Windows, it's more likely to be Stockholm Syndrome than loyalty.

Naming printers was my favorite

[Anonymous Coward]

For example the printer we named "Yo momma." People could then say things like "Yo momma is jammed!" or "Yo momma's busted." Hilarity.

Re:People like sitting in the same place

[BarryJacobsen]

The human does this, naturally.

And the human speak the English in the person of the third.

Re:Names?

[BarryJacobsen]

I name my computers...BARRY

You named one after me? I feel so honored. And I thought that one night stand meant nothing to you.

Re:Voice Synth

[naiv]

i have caught myself on 2 occasions saying goodnight to my computer. that was scary.

A computer's soul is confined to the power supply

[Anonymous Coward]

I found this out after purchasing a refurbished unit. The Antec power supply kept shocking me and once even tried to jump in the bathtub with me! When I returned the computer, the vendor realized the Antec had been previously used in a computer that controlled the plungers in a lethal injection system and was left in the 'evil' position. Once it was switched over to 'good' things have been fine.

Re:Loyalty to machines

[digitalsushi]

Felis boxen, be it though you have great speed
your presence new, i find the need
to advertise no hestitation
in premature defenstration

Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

I speak to my computer too.

"You lost the file?! YOU GOD DAMN SON OF A..."

And in other news...

[jdifool]

A beowulf cluster of anxious computers deny the previous assumption :
BC1 : "We should be trusted because of our supposed human attributes ?"
BC2 : "For Bill Gates's sake, we are not the ones opening *.pif.exe files, or even answering to those two lesbian chicks asking for hard cock right now !"

Human 1 : "Hot chicks ? Where ? Can I see them ?"

Regards,
jdif

Personalities

[Cruciform]

Windows boxes: Like your friends big brother, who invites the younger kids into their exclusive clubhouse, only to find out that it's "Wedgie day" and you're the entertainment.

Linux boxes: The computer equivalent of the guy on the streetcorner offering you the wonders of the world, if only you'll step into that alley with him. Sure, there's a bright light at the end of the tunnel, but you trip over a lot of shit getting there.

Macs: Like the friendly, artsy folks who invite you into their cozy little cafe downtown and make you one of the gang, it's only later, when you're naked and broke and surrounded by other MacHeads do you realize you've joined a cult. :)

Re:Names?

[Anonymous Coward]

By ip address

my computers love me

[SanityInAnarchy]

I have Linux on all my computers, and they are all very obediant -- not because I've beaten them into submission, but because we are very intimate with one another. They know the darkest websites I visit, and I know their most hackish source code.

This is what happens when you start giving them names:

My desktop is called "Morpheus", and my laptop is called "Trinity". My fileserver is "Tank", and my router is "Ninja". I have had a healthy dose of male bonding with all but Trinity, who is the sexiest little notebook I've ever seen. Every now and then, I compile kernels for a little male bonding, or get down and dirty with Trinity's video drivers.

The only other computer in this house is called "Dad", which is dual-boot Windows/Linux, and I have a more love/hate relationship with it. Dad is like a Jeckyll and Hyde, and will change with a single reboot from the nicest gentleman to the sickest, most twisted machine.

But really, if your computers don't love you, have you considered that it's because you don't treat them right?

"DAVE, YOU'RE KILLING ME...DAVE"

[Cryofan]

Then again, some people feel very little loyalty towards their computer.

Re:I know what they mean

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to turn of Speech Recognition and Text-to-Speech on, then use AppleScript to reply to me. When I curse "Fuck you", it said "your place or mine?". See, even when I am mad, my Mac loved me. Geeks here probably recognize the reply from Matlab v. 5 and earlier. :)

Re:I know what they mean

[Lancer]

You really shouldn't anthropomorphize computers -- they hate that.

It isn't just computers

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a favorite toilet stall at work too.

Linux is Cool, but I'm Loyal to my Windows PC

[Mignon]

My Linux machines are like the cool guys and I like to hang out with them, but I'm loyal to my Windows PC because it goes down on me regularly.

Re:People like sitting in the same place

[lambadomy]

I think it has a lot to do with the other people in the class as well, and how big the class is.

In a large lecture hall, I never seemed to care where I sat, and in some cases I sat wherever was available as I came in 5 minutes late.

In small classrooms with 20 or 30 desks, even if I didn't feel the need to always sit the same place, 80-90% of the class did. It was always awkward to be sitting in "someone elses" chair when they came in, even if there was no actual posession. So sitting in the same place every time is to some just the path of least resistance - if you're the only one who claimed it, you don't have to worry about the other people.