Only 39% Curse At Their Computers?

netbuzz writes "That's what we are to believe based upon a survey of 14,284 individuals conducted by security vendor Avira. That survey found that 39 percent of respondents 'cursed or yelled at the computer out loud.' And no computer is needed to calculate the implication: 61% of those participating in the poll believe themselves to have never once uttered a profanity or raised their voice in the direction of a malfunctioning machine. Are the majority of us genuinely possessed of such remarkable self-control? Or might some of these self-reported stoics be exercising a bit of selective memory?"

Comments

Only 39% curse at their computers

[Anonymous Coward]

The rest administer severe spankings.

That depends

[anom]

I don't really curse at my computer per se, but I certainly curse those responsible for building/developing crappy hardware/software. I have probably never said "Dang you computer", but as for "Dang you Microsoft!", well...

Re:Alternate Theory

[Anonymous Coward]

Or maybe some people know the computer wont be fixed by yelling at it. A kick is usually more effective.

Self control not required

[sanchom]

Why would one need self control to not curse at a computer? Some people are just quiet. Some people are just not emotive. Some people realize that yelling at a computer is kind of silly. It's not like there's this urge to yell and curse that we have to hold back like a sneeze.

Re:Linux

[Beardo the Bearded]

I am a military contractor and I work with sailors.

I have access to, and have used, military-grade profanity with regards to:
1. specifications that make no sense whatsoever,
2. hilariously optimistic decisions w.r.t. scheduling or personnel,
3. conflicting instructions that could cause fires, and/or
4. requirements dependent on physics that are not available in this universe.

I also use normal profanity in the middle of conversation because that's what's expected sometimes.

Nevertheless, on my personal time I tend to just reason with the machine.
"Look, it's me. I can get my tools and force you to work or you can just make it easier on the two of us and you can go back to looking at schematics on RoboNet."

It frightens me somewhat that that method works with reasonable reliability. This has even worked on machines that are new to me, which makes me wonder if I have a reputation amongst machines, which in turn makes me wonder if I am medically unstable.

Nevertheless, nothing shuts down my profanity filter faster than working with Linux.

Re:I have a Mac

[Beardo the Bearded]

Mac users don't swear at their machines because their mouth is full of Steve Jobs' cock.