TV Gives People Unrealistic Interoperability Expectations.
The effciency, effectiveness and reliability with which TV characters can perform all sorts of complex tasks with computers is making my life difficult and it's further weakening society's pansy grip on reality.

Lets take Jack Bauer in the TV show 24, top bloke and tough guy. He can get someone at the office to send some map of another office building of which he's about to kick the door in, with little red dots representing all the bad guys, to his electronic PDA updated in real-time without:

• Weak signals, drop outs, lack of call credit, blocked services, flat batteries etc..
• Having to remember his password that the I.T. dept insists he change every two weeks
• Having to call the person who's getting the map twice, send them an email and fax, only to get the 'what's address was it again?' -- 'oh that's on the old system.... You'll need to use the other software version 3.501.3.4765.6.2.6.8 to see the map properly, but its not compatible with your PDA'
• Having to sift through 145 other messages about viagra or earning cash fast.
• Waiting for virus updates to finish downloading so that the system can reboot and duplicate his contact list and forget all his appointments.

My problem is that some people are getting the idea that technology should be 100% reliable, seamless and easy to use and I reckon they're getting that idea from TV. The reality of finite reliability, cross compatibility and its relationship with cost and time is lost on what seems to be a vast swathe of the population that keeps asking me why some stuff doesn't work. I don't know whether to rail aganst the tide of believers in the 100% ideal, try to convert them to reality... or should I depart reality, join them in their glorious and impossible vision of the world and live a happier, and more ignorant life?