Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

I’m stealing these two links that were posted on Slashdot today.

What a Tangled Web I Wove
Computer Naivete Cost Me a Bundle And a Bit of Sanity

A Digital Doctor Treats Computer Contamination

I know all too well how these people feel.

I’ve been through the scenarios in these articles time and time again, most recently with my mother’s Windows machine, which was replaced with an iMac soon after. If you’ve ever wondered why I’ve pretty much given up on Windows for my own personal use, and why I’ve stopped fixing Windows for my friends, read those articles. I realize the authors are running Windows 98, but that doesn’t negate their experiences — there is still quite a bit of Windows 98 out there.

However, my point is not to bash Windows, my point is that the state of computing is absolutely pathetic. It’s too easy for the scum of this Earth to hijack the machines people use to make their living and run their lives. Software companies write flaky software that is buggy and easy to break, and then provide almost no support when catastrophe occurs because of their product. Users are too ignorant to understand what’s happened to them, and they’re not knowledgeable enough to fix it. Overworked tech people get bogged down cleaning up after criminals yet again. Our leaders, managers, and government officials don’t have the brains or the balls to hold the creators of these plagues accountable.

It’s every man for himself. The weak are preyed upon and the stronger do their best to hold out one more day. A Darwinian paradise, perhaps, but we refuse to accept this paradigm for other fundamental institutions of civilization. Why is computing any different? Viruses, spyware, trojans, and other kinds of nastiness affect everyone no matter what platform you’re running. The disease spreads rapidly through the monoculture, and those immune to the infection are left to deal with the consequences of the sickness.