His hands get sweaty as the as realtime communicator buzzes.
- "helpdesk, how can I be of service"
- "Yeah, hi, I have a problem"
- "Yes sir, what is your service number?"
- "Service number? I don't know?"
A barely audible sigh comes from the other end of the phone connection.
- "Is this the first time you contacted our helpdesk?"
-"yes, it is, Listen, my problem is.."
- "Please sir, I will first have to register you in our system."
The next 20 minutes are filled with answering all kind of questions. It makes him feel naked as his whole life is being entered in yet another anonymous database.
- "Now sir, what is your problem"
- "Sometimes I have migraines and they are getting worse"
- "I see. Can you give me some information on your hardware, like firmware version?"
- "Well, where should I look?"
- "Have you ever before installed any updates of service packs from our company, sir?"
- "No, I never knew that was needed"
- "Not installing our updates makes you vulnerable for viruses and abuse from other systems, sir. It is always wise to run our updates. Please hold while I scan our database for the symptoms "migraine".
While the realtimesystem plays some clips and tells him periodically that his call is important to them, he replays the conversation in his mind. He was old enough to remember "docters". Humans with special training in everything that could go wrong with your hardware. Not the integrated hardware support services that you have today with their interfaces, updates and net integration. He did not even have an interface installed, something he was ashamed to mention to the helpdesk-person. If it was a person, anyway. A lifetime ago he used to be a "wizard" with electronics and software, but somehow this passed. It took him years to come to grips with mobile communication and even in this day and age he took care that only a handful of people knew how to contact him via real-time. He preferred old fashion messages-systems and never used the Cloud if he could avoid it. This way he actually made quite a few friends with the same "integrate-phobia". A smile fleeted his face as he fondly recalls the avatars of his friends
- "Sir?"
For a moment he is startled as his mind is rudely awakened out of his reverie
- "Yes?"
- "I consulted with our experts and it is probably something to do with the hardware abstraction layer, or the bus itself. We advise you to first update your software, which might take away the problem right away. What is your interface type?
The dreaded question. Well, better get the unpleasantness over in one painful sweep
- "I don't have any"
A charged silence fills the virtual connection as the other end tries to come to grips with this unusual situation. He feels the prickling sensation starting in the back of his neck. Any moment he will be blushing. He wonders if it will show on the realtime. probably not. no interface.
- "you have no interface?"
- "No"
- "Hold please"
Again the clips and the reminder that his call is important to the company. The uneasiness is slowly dissolving as the difficult part of the conversation has been handled. It is replaced by pleasant relief.
-"Hello?"
The new voice is heavier and has the vocal chips and cracks of someone who has used or abused it a lot more than the previous voice. The avatar has changed too. Not one of those colorful oversexy newfangled fantasy-figures that are all the rage now, but a simple abstract projection of a human form.
-"Yes?"
-"I understand that you have no interface?"
-"That is correct"
-"And your age is over 50?"
-"Yes?"
-"I see. Well sir, we don't do any new installations on hardware older than 3 years. I'm afraid you are a legacy system and we can not extend our services to you. I'm very sorry about this."
- "Legacy system? I'm 52 and never been sick in my live!"
- "It is too risky, sir. All our installation protocols are aimed at systems younger than 3 years old. We cannot guarantee an error free implementation at your age. There is really nothing we can do. We skipped backward compatibility years ago."
- "There is nothing you can do."
- "No sir"
He felt the muscles in his face tense, a sure sign he was getting angry. Legacy system! I'll give them legacy!
At the helpdesk the projection unit of the realtime suddenly turned blue. Several white letters where projected:
0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0x00000000, 0xBA51F7C8,
0xBA51F4C4) Beginning dump of physical memory
The younger technician stared fascinated at the white letters.
- "what does it mean, sir? Shall I run it trough the database?"
- "No, I just think that person had an error in his kernel"
- "Oh Gross!"
Tancque
12-11-2008