Please don't think I'm having a go at all IT people here.
Its probably just the ones I've come across. Although the evidence shows otherwise, doesn't it?
Just this week, the new terminal five in Heathrow has caused major inconvenience to thousands of passengers (and would-be passengers) with delayed or cancelled flights, baggage going to places thousands of miles away from its owners and various other problems.
And according to the newspapers, this was all the fault of the computers, therefore, the IT guys.
It reminds me of 2001. People who were interested in genealogy were very excited because the 1901 census had been transcribed and was launched on the internet, heralded by a rash of publicity and a fanfare of trumpets, presumably...
After struggling bravely for a few minutes, the website crashed completely under its own weight and it was months before it was fixed and back online. It seems that the IT guys hadn't anticipated the demand. It was probably housed on a server in someone's back bedroom or something.
As for the IT people I have dealings with, in most cases I have no idea how they got their jobs. I think it's probably because they are computer-fixers, like the bloke who changes the oil in your car.
Unfortunately, what seems to happen is that their employers interpret this as meaning he or she 'knows about computers'. They almost invariably do not. That's like saying that the chap who changes the oil in your car is qualified to work in the pits during the Indy 500 or he Monaco Grand Prix.
So many IT people do not know how to set up a simple email address. And please, don't make me have to say this twice, they do not know the first thing about websites. And you really shouldn't expect them to. They are the people who put new batteries into your mouse, find out what went wrong when that new software you installed didn't work properly, turn the computer off and on again when it's having a funny turn.
You wouldn't expect a kid who flips burgers at McDonalds to be able to cater a six-course banquet for 500 guests including the Queen of England, the president of the United States and 498 other dignitaries, would you?
Well, then.
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