Computers are not cars

Submitted by Adam on February 15, 2006 - 5:24pm.

I used to make a lot of Analogies relating computers to cars. I don’t do that much any more because I have realized that computers are not cars. Computers are not like anything we have ever used at any other time in the history of the world.

Your car is used to get you from point A to point B. It is not designed to do anything else. Sure it may have a few bells and whistles, but when you stop to think about it, it doesn’t matter how comfortable the seats are or whether it has a cooled glove box if the car won’t get you from point to point.

Someone who owns a Model T can get from point to point a little slower, but just as well as someone with a 2006 Hummer. Computers do not work this way.

As long as you never change the programs or tasks that you use your computer for, it could technically last you forever. However, most of us change what we use our computers for ever couple of years.

I have seen a few clients lately who have had to make sudden changes with their computer. They have purchased new accessories or decided to take on new jobs with their computers and have come to a sudden realization that their computers are too far outdated to accomplish the task at hand.

Each of these clients has insisted on comparing their old computer to their current car. “I bought my car before I bought my computer and it still does everything I need it to do. Why can’t computers be more like cars?”

The answer is simple. Unlike cars, computers are designed to do anything. You can design a bridge on the same machine that you use to send photos or do genealogy. Our uses for the computer change constantly. When Windows 98 came out a digital camera cost thousands of dollars. Microsoft had no intention of ever using Windows 98 for digital photography.

Comparing the progress of computers to the progress of cars is like comparing the progress of the Model T into Star Trek’s teleportation system. Every two or three years computer technology evolves more than automobile technology has since the invention of the wheel.

It is not critical that we stay on the cutting edge, but there have been four generations of computers out since Windows 98. If you are still using 98, don’t be surprised if a new computer is the answer to your next problem.

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