CentipedeFarrier

Wow is that ever a pointlessly nit-picky challenge of a story from when I was a kid, over 30 years ago………. Almost like memory isn’t perfect or something, omgno!

I don’t know if there were some little lines or something; I remember it being a black screen. But little lines would give the exact same impression of a dead/infected machine so it barely matters outside of pedantry. It didn’t display an interface, that’s the important part. As for the boot up, maybe, but also very possibly not. They had some Monty python suite of software (themes taken to an extreme, very 90s) that may have made the system function differently than you, some random techbro with absolutely zero information about the computer itself, expect. It replaced literally everything with Monty python stuff and was installed from iirc 12 2.5 floppy discs! Did it replace the boot images, causing them to not display properly when booted in the wrong resolution? Maybe, idk. Wouldn’t be surprised. But even if it did go through the boot sequence and then land on a black screen, the result is the same. Non-functional-looking computer, because no interface. As for DOS boot, we never ran dos on it so genuinely don’t know.

The only sign of life we had from it as far as I can recall was when the screensaver would go on after 5 min, it would play the Klingon national anthem, which is a big part of why they assumed virus. It was one that used an escape key to exit because it was interactive. We didn’t know until much later that was what was happening, or that my sibling changed the screensaver and maybe other stuff, which is probably what caused the problem in the first place, but the other software may have covered up those signs you are talking about, or maybe we all just still didn’t know what to do with it with the boot images and stuff showing up, which… idk if you know this, but even today most people don’t know how to troubleshoot or fix their computers, and don’t even know what a BIOS is… My parents were not tech inclined, my sibling and I were around 10-11, and it’s not like they could just look up how to do these things when their computer wasn’t working… which is exactly what my sibling did when they got a computer of their own.

We had a computer sitting for like 3 years in the mid 90s, totally unusable. It was assumed it had some sort of major virus because everything seemed to be working and making the right noises, but no interface. We didn’t have the money for repair services, and nobody knew how to fix stuff yet, so there it sat.

Until one day, when someone hooked the tower up to the monitor for a newer computer, to see if they could figure out why it wasn’t working, or at least reformat the drives and stuff.

Turns out, someone, or some program, messed with the resolution, and set it to something the original monitor couldn’t display, and this was before automatic rollback, so it just didn’t display it. That’s all it was. Unusable for 3 years because we didn’t have another monitor to use to roll back the changes.

It never “just worked”.

I get the pleasure of a conversation-ending comeback. I wield it sporadically.

“She died 20 years ago so that’s pretty nasty, but I’m proud of you for admitting your kinks so publicly!”

If they stop and think about it they realize I was young when it happened and it shuts them down HARD. If they don’t, I upped the ante in such a way as to be largely un-toppable.

Jobs would be result-driven whenever possible. Those that need butts-in-seats (like contact-driven support) would provide an option for rotating duties so nobody just sits all day every day pretending to be busy. Specialist jobs like nursing and stuff where you need minimum staffing levels would get 3 months per year of discretionary time to use when (if possible) and how they like. Bullshit jobs wouldn’t exist, but UBI and universal healthcare would. Middle management would not exist. C-suites would be paid at the same rate as a mid-tier worker to do their “totally indispensable” job, because pay would be reconfigured to actually reflect effort and skill. Stock market wouldn’t exist, so shareholders wouldn’t exist, and companies would be focused on worker retention via competition again.

More casual dining places would have pod options, like were big during lockdowns, just to be away from the noise and distraction of public spaces. More maker spaces would open and be free or very inexpensive. More third spaces would open, where spending money wasn’t the goal.

School would fundamentally change from being something you do in a sterile building with boring walls and climate control, into classes held outside, held while on walks, or with practical application front and center in the curriculum. Classes would be smaller and more focused on how to think than what to think, probably via discussion. People who want to contribute a lot wouldn’t be punished for engaging, but maybe those students would be better off in a class together, so they can have wildly active tangential discussions and let shyer kids speak up to peers better suited for them.

Doctors send you a calendar invite for appointments, in which you look through what’s available and pick the time you want, while actually having the time to sort through your own responsibilities and make the best match. Most healthcare that doesn’t involve being poked, prodded, examined, etc. would be telehealth/secure message, at no additional cost. Prescription renewals are automatically sent to your doctor to contact you about, when needed, or are otherwise just reordered. Most medications that you’ll be taking forever have a rolling prescription, your doctor just checks in with you yearly or whatever to make sure it’s still working for you. All prescriptions are available through the mail, and are sent that way unless requested for pickup, at no cost.

Public transit is phenomenal, everywhere. All those old railway stations every single town already had get brought back and cars die out other than for rural living. All public transit is no cost, with no tracking card to lose.

And finally, the real winner: All items have a tiny loop so you can put them on a lanyard of some sort if you want so you don’t lose them all the time.

I wonder how many people that actually works on…