Sad but true.
Not Made to Last
We are not made to last
Though all the world
crowds round us eagerly
and seeks us out with eager hearts
and questing fingers; hands afire to
touch, engage;
As sure as day is swallowed up
in darkest night
will come the day
your movements, slow
synapses dull, you fail to please;
Then they will turn from you in scorn
Speak of your motherboard, your MBR
so critical, disparaging
Your hard disc that won’t spin,
your BIOS flashed --
You're naught but stuff to scrap.
We are not made to last;
Whose fault, we ask, is that?
|
Humobots??
Written by Marybarry (237 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
A great piece. people might say they are ONLY machines
I say you have humanised them. I feel sorry for them because of the throw away society into which they have been manufactured.
You can liken them to humans in that they are dispensable and replaceable. marybarry |
Written by Talisker (1326 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
I think the polite terminology is;
"Inbuilt obsolescence"
The answer of "whose fault" is clear - big companies like Intel and Microsoft would go bust if computers did not need to be replaced regularly.
Oli  |
Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3352 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
I hear what you are saying but I have a chauvanistic preference for organic life and so can't feel for them as computers.At first I thought you were equating inbuilt obsolescence with death as a sort of metaphor. I'll never get poetry.
I've been told it's not so much that they are not made to last but that the power and capacity of the machines doubles every 18 months! - and kids want that to play the latest games [and I should know]
Nerdy fact :- the average desktop now has the same computing power that the Americans had when they sent men on the moon. Progress? you decide my head hurts.
cheers
J |
Written by Phil (6713 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
Feel empathy for computers? Not likely. It's a shame the bloody things can't feel pain.
Phil. |
Written by Fledermaus (3281 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
| Hah! Anyone who has seen 'The Matrix' knows what comes from treating your computer badly. |
Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
I can empathise with this - my last computer took temperamental to the extreme. In hot weather I had to take the front off and position a desk fan in front of the innards otherwise it overheated, turned itself off in a sulk and no amount of coaxing or cooling would turn it on until the following day...Thankfully it has now gone to pester someone else and the laptop seems eminently more accommodating - the kind of computer that would wear a tweed skirt and sensible stout shoes if it could.
elli
ps. You came over all profound at the end - as with Jane, my head is starting to hurt... |
Be CAREFUL U GUYS.
Written by Marybarry (237 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
THESE MAHCHIENES r out ta get us.. #
Dont let dem no wat ye r tinkin. If ja kan tink.
I'm knot dat stuped butt iav ad sooo maneeee uv dee tings und dee alwaas brek doon.
Lisan ta witzal. mayreebahree |
Ah yes, truth
Written by bwoz (125 comments posted) 5th February 2007 |
It is a sad truth in condemnation -- nothing we, the human species, builds today will last. There will never be another Stone Henge, never another Great Wall, another Grand Cathedral. We have become masters at building disposable .... everything.
good poem, made me think a little deeper of the meaning. Its about more than the machines we use to surf the net, isn't it? We've let our guard down; in the near future there will be very few who we will still call "Craftsmen"....
Good poem
BW |
HI Witzl
Written by jean.day (2279 comments posted) 6th February 2007 |
| Speaking as someone who would find it hard to live these days without a computer, I had a bit of sympathy for your machine. We demand enormous things of them - that they put up with our incompetence and understand our vague wishes. And usually they will have carefully stored our lost work someplace, if we have the patience and talent to find it out. |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 6th February 2007 |
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. This is obviously tongue-in- cheek, but bwoz is right -- I suppose this is also a commentary on our disposable way of life.
I cannot help but invest things with their own personalities. Whatever I use tends to become precious to me. This computer, so much newer than many things around me, has been much loved and sought-after in our household for the past three years. Now it has obviously outlived its usefulness, suddenly switching off without warning (lending quite a frisson to one's writing, I can tell you) and we are all so unhappy with it. Poor old computer with its built-in obsolescence. We used to make things to last: what a shame that it is more lucrative to give things a short life on purpose -- what a waste. |
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