Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "computer"

My beautiful car, Sally, and I are having a long-running adversarial relationship. Oh, she's sexy to be sure, and she knows it. But, her sultry good looks belie the real truth; I don't think she likes me much. She won't listen to me and is frankly... rude.

Photo by Tami Ruble

I was initially excited to learn that Sally came equipped with a voice-activated computer designed to control my music, navigation, telephone and climate. Having the system encourages my fantasy of commanding a starship. Back when Sally and I were still friends, I would pretend to be the captain and ask her things like, "Computer, where are we now?" But, she would stubbornly respond, "I'm sorry, I do not understand." I realize I'm not very computer literate (see Techno Reject ) but I think I speak clearly enough. It's no better even now, though we've known each other for more than two years. Just recently she attempted to get me stuck as she directed me into a muddy field. Thankfully, I recognized her preferred path was not the roadway and made the proper adjustment.

Sally refuses to learn my language so, by checking the manual, I've finally learned her's. When she says, "Please say a command." I know I have to use words in her limited vocabulary, such as "MP3 player," and then "Play Ray Charles," to which she responds, "Playing Tommy Tutone." I'm telling you, if she were controlling a starship, it'd be crashed by now.

I'm not sure what the future holds for Sally and me as we both think we're in charge. For now I've been bypassing her and using the manual controls, but I suspect she doesn't like that. I'm awaiting her retaliation.