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masculine or feminine
Alex Hollerith -
Wed Jun 23 17:00:06 1999
A college professor, who was previously a sailor, was very aware
that ships are addressed as "she" and "her". He often wondered
what gender computers should be addressed. To answer that
question, he set up two groups of computer experts. The first was
comprised of women, and the second of men. Each group was
asked to recommend whether computers should be referred to in the
feminine gender, or the masculine gender.
They were asked to give 4 reasons for their recommendation. The
group of women reported that the computers should be referred to in
the masculine gender because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time
they are the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited
a little longer you could have had a better model.
The men on the other hand concluded that computers should be
referred to in the feminine gender because:
1. No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other
computers is incomprehensive to everyone else.
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory
for later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
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