One of my classes this half of the semester is a pass/fail Global Management class, which looks to be relatively simple. There can't possibly be wrong answers. Also, the grade shouldn't impact my GPA, and it only lasts five weeks.
As an example of the simplicity of the course, half of my last session was devoted to watching a film on the impact of IMF (International Monetary Fund) policies on Jamaica. When the video came on the screen, though, we couldn't hear anything. The volume was adjusted. Wires were checked, and eventually A/V people came by and fixed the issue. They didn't completely fix the issue, though. The volume faded in and out and background noises came through much clearer than voices. Apparently the room had been set up for a satellite conference earlier in the day, and adjustments hadn't been made for a normal video to be played.
I am actually surprised with the number of times this sort of thing occurs. I can't count the number of times a video wouldn't play or a remote control wouldn't work or equipment seemed to spontaneously fail right when it was needed most. This has happened when I was in charge as well. I have had a few occasions when I needed a projector or a TV or something else to work when it just wouldn't.
So, here's the question. Why is it that when technology fails it does so when there are ten or twenty-five or one hundred people are waiting impatiently for it work? When one person sits down at a TV it just works. When one person pops a CD into a music system it just works. When twenty-five people sit down to watch a video, four times out of five something doesn't work. It's enough to drive a person crazy.
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4 comments:
I hate (read LOVE) technology!
One of the professors I worked for during grad school was the WORST with technology. Nearly every class there was some problem... the computer would freeze up or her powerpoint slides wouldn't come up right. I was always nervous when her class time came around because I never knew what the next emergency would be.
It would be interesting to do a study to see what the odds r on this for real! So does the tv not mess up for 1 person OR is there just noone there to record the happening! :) --think about the tree in the forest--
I spent 10 minutes on the phone with my mom while she was here and I was gone one day explaining how to turn on the tv and run it! :) We have parental control in addition to having the cable routed through the vcr so there is a 5 step process to watch anything at our house! :) I never once during that whole conversation thought to tell her to just go downstairs to my room and watch that one! LOL. We didn't get it on the first phone call, but when I called her back we did and she left the tv on the rest of the weekend so she wouldn't have to try to turn it on again!
This is so true. Multiple people cause technology failure/complications. The worse you want to show it or the more important it is, the more likely there will be problems. Also, if people think you are a techie and able to handle these things, there is a higher chance of problems. Anyone want to watch a video?
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