Encounters Of The Failed Kind: These 45 Technology Users Are Anything But Savvy

Nothing quite like that feeling when you bring home a new electronic appliance, remove the covering, unboxing it, and picking it up like a newborn. Then there will be a couple of weeks, maybe a maximum of two months, where you treat it with the utmost respect by cleaning it regularly, keeping it safe, etc., until it becomes a regular day-to-day object. Even that indifference you will develop over time cannot prepare you for the absolute shock of coming home one day and finding your laptop in ruins or your iPad looking like it was airdropped, with the screen reduced to nothing more than a web of cracks. Shock doesn’t even cover it – it can feel like an absolute nightmare, as is the case with these unfortunate souls.

Are they making phones out of Kevlar now?

Wow! This phone looks like it took the full brunt of a point-blank shotgun blast! Just look at the entry point! What did the owner of this phone do to end up with this? Did they tick off Elmer J. Fudd?

Even after what seems like a result of a strafing run from an A-10 Warthog, the phone still functions. We mean, if that isn’t a testament to the durability of this particular phone brand and its quality, we don’t know what is!

Big birder is watching you…

“Hi, we’re calling about the CCTVs your company has installed on the property. They’re working perfectly, but the image looks, well, blurry and nonexistent. Can you send a technician over as soon as possible to see what is wrong with these cameras?”

The problem with the images turned out to be a bird. It had chosen the CCTV as a cozy place to roost. Two plus points from this call: it’s an easy problem to fix and the CCTV sun visor will also get fixed if they notice it first.

When your toddler loses CTRL

This person made the choice of leaving her laptop with her two-year-old for ten minutes. We guess that even at two years of age, the child wanted an ESC from the repetition. Guess the little one wanted some SPACE for themselves.

Well, looks like it’s the end of the SHIFT for this mom. What will she tell her boss? Rat on her child, saying they went absolute hulk smash on the keyboard, and now it looks like gutted? Talk about having a rough day!

“Look how they massacred my MacBook”

People get angry. Though it’s not hard to control, some people tend to go overboard when they get mad. Such was the case here; the owner of this MacBook said that his friend intentionally snapped the laptop in half. Some friend!

We hope the owner was compensated with money for this or was bought a new laptop to replace his loss. This incident gives a new meaning to the phrase, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” Ain’t that the truth!

The recline of destruction

The story here is that this person kept his laptop on his tray. Then, the seat in front of him swung back without warning. What resulted from that incident was this gut-wrenching picture you see here today. We can’t even imagine the shock this person felt when this happened!

A flight attendant on duty told the laptop owner that people have the right to recline without even asking him about his laptop. People do have the right to recline, but there should also be decency and etiquette in situations like this.

“Oh, you poor, poor printer!”

We are all well aware of the advancements technology has made in the past few decades. Look at how the mobile phone has progressed. From a clunky landline to a handheld mini-computer, it went through so much change in so little time.

But technology hasn’t advanced to the point that we have printers that can unwrap the packing by themselves. The culprit behind this must have thought that the same process for loading a toner cartridge applies to loading papers, also. Yeesh!

Literal overheating of a CPU

When we smell something off, like a smell that shouldn’t be there, we try to find the source. After all, that is the natural thing to do, but it didn’t happen here. Even the ports look like they’re panicked and in pain.

The owner of this PC called tech support, saying that it kept going off randomly. When tech support arrived, they were greeted by a screaming PC! Turns out that the owner kept a space heater near the PC and smelled something burning, but she couldn’t connect the dots.

“Oh, darling, What have you done!”

If we happen to be parents and happen to own expensive stuff, the most sensible thing is to keep them out of the kids’ reach. That way, you can enjoy them for their intended lifespan. Also, it saves your money!

These things can happen if you keep your expensive camera within her reach. She’s just a small child; she doesn’t understand the actual value of dad’s DSLR. Plus, how on earth can you get angry at an adorable face like that? Take this as a lesson learned!

There’s theory and there’s how you apply it

Most of the gaming mouses these days have a hole-centric design to make them lightweight. That way – say you happen to be a competitive gamer – it makes it relatively easy for you to make split-second decisions in a game.

To make it lightweight, the owner of this mouse took a drill and drilled holes in it. He was puzzled when it wouldn’t work. He didn’t stop to think that gaming mouses are made that way with holes, and they’re not drilled after the mouse is made!

Portable dust bowl

This looks like the nightmare of a person who has asthma! It usually takes years to collect this much dust in one place, which gets us to think about what the owner of this PC was doing all this time.

They must have been experiencing severe malfunctions for the PC for them to call an IT professional finally. Turns out they didn’t know the cause was dust until the IT professional showed them this. So guys, make sure to clean your computers at least twice a year.

Who upset the squid?

Office printers are in a league of their own. Not when it comes to efficiency but when it comes to tormenting us office folk. It’s like they smell fear and uncertainty. The moment an important copying job is due, it malfunctions on cue!

We can’t even possibly imagine the thought process of the first person to see this. How bad of a job do you have to do with toner for it to explode? Let’s have a minute of silence for the poor soul who has to clean this.

Taping the air vents of your PC to cancel the fan noise can lead to the cancelling of your PC

When we feel hot, we put on the fan to cool us down. The fan inside a computer does the same function. Say you’re playing a video game, then your computer does a lot of processing and it can turn up the heat inside.

Now comes the air vents as the fan uses outside air to cool the inside of the PC, which comes through these vents. So, can you even imagine the heat spike inside this PC? No wonder the owner of this PC had performance issues!

Computer Virus. Of course it is a biohazard, it’s in the name!

Prevention is better than cure. This is something nearly every one of us has heard. So when customer support said to send them the faulty PC – which had a computer virus – the owner went the extra mile to make sure it was shipped safely.

We can believe that he acted in good faith. But, when the entire world is in a pandemic situation, shipping something with a biohazard symbol can and will alert everyone. We can’t possibly imagine the panic at the post office this turned up!

The ruins at DELLphi, Greece

They might be long gone, but the architectural marvels of the ancient civilizations continue to amaze us to this day. Like this image of an ancient Greek city. Just kidding – it is not a city but a dust-caked motherboard!

The owner of this poor PC had to have used it outside, next to a sawmill or a gravel yard. How on earth can you explain this much dust in one place? No wonder the entire system called it quits.

When your toddler mistakes your laptop for a coloring book

As we mentioned previously – with the DSLR example – You shouldn’t leave your electronics around children who don’t know their true worth. To them, it looks like a book, kind of opens like a book and you can write on it, so it is a book!

Although it looks like a completely lost cause, a certified professional can remove the sharpie marks with some rubbing alcohol. Let this kindergarten Jackson Pollock impression be a reminder for all of you to keep your expensive electronics away from kids.

That’s one rice phone you have there…

If your phone got water in it accidentally, turning it off and sticking it in dry rice can draw the moisture away from the insides. Keeping it for 24 hours inside rice can be pretty beneficial, and most of the time, your phone can be saved.

Unfortunately, the owner of this phone misunderstood the lifehack, and instead of putting it IN rice, they put rice IN the telephone. By the looks of it, it couldn’t have been easy prying that phone open to put the rice in.

Not every Apple product has touch screen

Either the person who owns this iMac is stubborn or forgets things quite quickly. There’s no way you collect that much dirt and grease over an appliance that doesn’t have a touch screen by accident. Even looking at it can make you cringe.

But it seems like that they finally understood that they were doing something wrong. We can be happy along with them that it’s not ruined. All that it needs is a thorough clean-up and a screen guard to prevent any more smudging.

Arts and crafts

It’s good to see children pick up arts and crafts, even from a young age. Most parents hang the creations of their little ones around the house or on the refrigerator to showcase their talents. But that won’t be the case here.

We have two questions upon seeing this. How did the child find an open paint can, and how long was the child left unsupervised so that he could whitewash a huge flat-screen TV? Bye-bye, Dad’s football games, and Mom’s reality shows!

A candle light vigil for the computer that was lost

In life, certain things make us speechless, like hearing something scandalous or seeing something unbelievable. This catastrophe falls into the latter category, and it sure left us lost for words. How can you explain what happened here? Two words: candle wax.

The insides look like a bubblegum factory exploded, submerging a nearby town in the process. We do feel sorry for the IT professionals who have to deal with this. There’s no conceivable way that the motherboard could be recovered entirely without damage!

Just because it’s a hole, doesn’t mean it needs a screw!

The generational gap can be pretty interesting. Although they have the age factor and life experience on us, our grandparents might find it particularly hard to grasp certain technological aspects. Which sort of explains WHAT happened here but offers no clue as to the WHY?

We hope the older person in this situation didn’t get electrocuted while doing this. It’s one thing to wonder what this hole is, but forcing a screw down is taking things a bit far. There’s always the option of asking someone if you’re not sure.

We think it’s time you were introduced to hard drives

Floppy disks, or what most people in this generation know as the save icon, have been outperformed by the emergence of CDs, DVDs, thumb drives, and portable hard drives. It was in 2009 the last floppy disk was made, which signaled the end of an era.

So that you know keeping a floppy disk near a powerful magnet is the worst thing you can do. Especially when it contains something as important as a system backup, the magnetic field will erase the data within the floppy disk.

What makes keyboards so irresistible to small children?

Since 1991, the Ig Nobel Prize has been granted yearly to 10 unique or minor achievements in scientific research. Some Ig Nobel prizewinners went on to win the Nobel Prize. Maybe it’s time that we researched what little kids find irresistible about keyboards.

Seeing a functioning keyboard is like catnip for toddlers. As an adult, you question your strength when you try to pry open their little fingers to get the keyboard keys. How do they have the power to rip off keys like they’re made of paper?

Images that make you reconsider your life choices

Applecare for the phone and Medicare for Mommy because she had to fish her iPhone out of the s-bend and hospitalized herself just in case. Who knows what kind of germs linger in a toilet? It’s partly Mommy’s fault for keeping her phone within reach of the child.

There’s this adorable look of discovery in this child’s face when he eagerly calls out to his mom to show what he’s doing. Most of the time, that look, coupled with the powerful curiosity children have, can spell disastrous for electronic appliances.

No more glass, no more cracks

We have all done at least one dumb thing in our lives. It’s a part of the process of being human as none of us are perfect. But it takes a unique thought process to do what has been done to this phone.

The Apple customer in question peeled off the glass screen protecting the phone so that he wouldn’t notice the cracks and then had to take it in because – gasp – it wasn’t working. We actually wouldn’t mind seeing the customer who did this!

This would complicate things, don’t it?

If we can unanimously agree on one thing, it’s that trying to open those hard plastic packages can drive one up the wall. Sure, we get that it ensures safety but what’s the point if we can’t get what we want out?

We do feel sorry for this person right here. They will have to order another mouse because the wire is cut clean in half. If only they had ordered a Bluetooth mouse, this wouldn’t have happened. But with packaging like this, we don’t blame her.

To make the data transfer a smooth experience, hammer in the USB drive

Patience is a powerful virtue. More so, when you use a computer, try to be patient even during the most rage-inducing malfunctions or when they become painfully slow. Because that way you can guarantee a long life for your computer and save your money.

The owner of this laptop lost patience, big time. You can see from the hammered thumb drive and the horrible chipping from his efforts to retrieve the said drive. Always keep a level head if your computer acts up because anger solves nothing.

You have, 01 attempt remaining

Nothing freaks us out more than getting the password on our devices wrong continuously. Most newer iOS models have a waiting period so that you can try again, but that was not the case with older models such as the one pictured here.

Lord knows how many attempts this cute baby accidentally made to unlock this iPad, to lock his poor dad out for a lifetime. Thankfully, there are ways that this lock can be bypassed. But we can all agree that the best is to keep the iPad out of his reach.

A tipped server = (un)happy server

Most businesses use private servers or server farms to store their data. In this digital age, it’s not that hard to understand the value of data. Therefore, servers get the utmost care from professionals. They have to be in good working order for a business to function well.

This heartbreaking image was caused by the server not being appropriately anchored. Thousands of dollars worth in damage because of one (super gigantic) mistake. What about the loss caused to the business which couldn’t access its data due to this?! Big oof.

A physical depiction of anxiety

DSL is a method of connecting to a high-speed network or the Internet using voice lines (phone lines). AT&T kept getting complaints from this neighborhood, saying that their DSL connection was too slow. A professional was sent to uncover the problem. They found this.

Customer service was first under the impression that the issue was with the users. We can’t even imagine the frustration the service person felt when they saw this mess. It’s like they had a competition to see how chaotic they can make the wiring!

Modern renaissance

What are you willing to do, if you really want to stay home that day? You want to skip school. Then comes the idea. Maybe Mom and Dad would let me stay home if I hit the TV and threw a fit!

Guess the kid underestimated the power of his swing. He completely decked the expensive flat-screen TV, which resulted in this picture. He looks like a mischievous cherub who was caught doing something cheeky. No more cartoons for you, kiddo!

Well they are wireless so these must be the antennae!

We guess that it was the first day on the job for whoever was responsible for this setup. Maybe they hadn’t seen a wireless speaker until that very day. It’s only logical for him to think that the stands kind of look like antennae.

It seems like the performance of the speakers was not affected that much. That’s not the case we’re making here. If you’re not sure about something, the best thing is to ask someone to make sure you’re doing it right. Or you can just Google!

It’s a boy!

Now we know for sure where Tobias from Arrested Development got the blue body paint. From right here! It kind of looks like something a Smurf would leak. Jokes aside, this seems like the blue cartridge is the one that should be fixed.

We sure hope that they were able to fix the printer in time. At least this toner explosion was contained inside, unlike the previous post where it looked like the inside of a coal mine with the black toner ink everywhere.

When the brownie finally kicks in

There are three theories to this: 1) They must have accidentally kept a powerful magnet near the monitor; 2) dropped the monitor, which damaged the screen; 3) The monitor is on a serious trip. When you look at it, point 3 sounds plausible!

We hope that the monitor didn’t get hooked on the feeling. After all, this isn’t the 70s anymore. Plus, this kind of looks like a bit of an evil way of pranking your drunk friends. Prank responsibly, and avoid bad trips!

They left the space bar and removed all the other keys

At first glance, we were wondering why the keyboard is white when the laptop model is black. Then we saw the handiwork of these two toddlers. Really what’s in the milk that’s given to kids these days? Super soldier serum?

How can they expertly pick a keyboard clean with their cute little fingers? As adults, most of us struggle with tight lids! All the strength we have as kids is simply not there when we grow up. Now there’s something else to research!

Out-of-the-box thinking

If a photo can make you facepalm, well, this takes the cake. The story behind here is this: The aunt of this person thinks that this is much more convenient than propping the whole phone. After all, the phone can slide down, duh!

So, what she did was that she ripped the entire screen and propped it, like true flip phone style. But at the expense of a perfectly good phone, in our opinion! Plus, this looks like an open invitation for injuries!

“Um, 2007 called. They want their flip phone back”

Jinx! Mentioned flip phones in the previous paragraph and came across this. We can joke, but these things are pretty durable. There was even a meme circulating the internet of a shield made with Nokia phones and flip phones.

The owner of this phone wanted to buy a new smartphone. But they were reluctant to part with their flip phone. So, their child took matters into his hand and did this. They were anyway going to buy a phone. Yay?

After all this, it still works

Did a cat’s spirit inhabit this phone? Not only did it survive falling from a height, but it also survived being run over by a car. And yet, it still works! Usually, dropping an iPhone causes so much stress for their owners. But not this!

Captain America need not worry if he loses his shield, as long as he carries an iPhone from this batch. It went through the worst nightmare a phone can be through, yet the display still works! A real miracle happened that day.

Disk trolled!

2012 was an unforgettable year. The Avengers came out; we thought the world would end because of the Mayan Calendar; the London Olympics, to name a few. Also, those years were the peak of the rage face era headed by the troll face.

This was what greeted a high school student when they took apart the disk drive, which was broken. It must have been waiting there since 2012 to troll some unsuspecting student. Sigh. These meme lords never know when to stop.

“It’s a brand new flash drive; of course there’s nothing wrong with it!”

If a flash drive does not show up on your PC, it can be due to the presence of viruses. Or the flash drive is formatted to an incompatible file system. Maybe because of some issue with the USB port.

Then you connect the flash drive to your PC. It works perfectly. “Wait, you plug the drive into that?” comes the question and then everything makes sense. Of course, the flash drive won’t work when you stick it in the LAN port!

“Yeah, I kinda dropped it”

The question we have is where the owner was when they dropped this laptop. Flying? Because this kind of damage just doesn’t happen to a laptop when it falls from a height of 3 or 4 feet. This looks like it fell from a height of 3 or 4 stories.

But the professionals at the Genius Barn could piece together the clues (not the laptop). The owner came the day after the Super Bowl. Maybe they had a fit of anger because their team lost. That anger was sadly taken out on the laptop.

For sale. A telephone designed by Salvador Dali

Surreal artwork is something we have heard about. But surreal telecommunication appliances are something we hear today. Guess Dali had a phone phase not many knew about. The actual story here is based on quick temper and not thinking through when acting on anger.

The owner of this phone was highly annoyed by the volume of phone calls they were getting; they put it in the oven. Well, what happens when a call they are getting is for an emergency? Good luck trying to pick that receiver up!

How school property is treated IRL

In a move to adapt to the changes in technology, most schools shift from books to laptops. In a way, it’s pretty convenient over traditional education methods because children can use the internet in real-time while they are being taught, enhancing the study experience.

But if this is how the students treat the opportunity they are given, maybe it’s time to rethink. Sure the person who did this may have a computer at home, but what about a less privileged student who can’t afford a new laptop?

“My hard drive died and I tried to fix it but got stuck. Can you recover the data for me?”

There are times in life, where you become speechless and helpless. This is one of those times. We can’t even have a blind guess on what went through the IT technician’s mind when they saw this. God help us!

The only thing which was done correctly was organizing the parts into Ziploc bags. It doesn’t make a lick of sense, and there is no way that this hard drive can be fixed. At least the owner of this hard drive is organized; we’ll give them that.

“Hey, is the power on?”

This is what happens when you draw too many amps (current) through the extension cord. Honestly, this looks more like a burnt-out, molten marshmallow than an electrical appliance. How on earth they avoided a potential fire is baffling to us.

The people who used this extension cord really ought to have some kind of test done on them. How can one not smell the pungent, gag-inducing smell of melting plastic at such proximity? Sure does ring all the wrong bells, doesn’t it?

Why?

“Hmm, the Dell mouse I have doesn’t go with the MacBook aesthetic. What can I do to make it match?” is what we think the owner of this butchered mouse thought. “Aha! I know just the thing to do.” But they did not think it through.

An Apple mouse is wireless and doesn’t have a scroll wheel. Taking the scroll wheel out like a Predator gutting its victim won’t fix it. Nor does cutting the wire make it wireless. Things like these make us ask the question, “Why?”