this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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I was working in my college's computer lab in '97/'98 and this was old then. The freshmen kept falling for it every year!
I can't speak to the executable, but I know back in '95 the joke about someone calling support and asking why they have a cup holder but no CD drive was already crusty. There were a bunch of variations, but here's the first one I found for those too young to remember:
Customer: "Can you help me, the cup holder on my new computer broke, and I don't know what to do?
Friend: "Cup holder? What are you talking about? None of our computers come with a cup holder attached to them, and I've never heard of one that did."
Customer: Yes, well the one you sold me did, and the other day I went to set a mug of coffee on it and it just snapped off!"
Friend: "Sir, can you describe what the cup holder looks like, because I still can't picture what a cup holder on a computer would look like?"
At this point the customer is getting a little irritated!
Customer: "Look, I don't know how you could not know that you sell computers with cup holders on them, because it's right in the middle of the thing, and when you push a button on the side, it pops out so you can set your drink on it, and it says 4X on the front cover!"
A long pause . . .
Friend: Sir, are you telling me, you're using your CD-Rom drive as a beverage holder?"
Customer: "What's a CD-Rom Drive?"
And now, a terrible bonus joke that is completely unrelated but was around at about the same time:
How do you know if you're addicted to the Internet? You get a tattoo that says "This body best viewed with Netscape 2.01 or higher."
From my time as tech support, I can tell you that story is probably true
It wouldn't shock me, honestly. I did home support in a small computer repair shop for extra cash and all the leftover parts I could carry in high school in the 90s, then I did some time at an MSP for many years in the 00s and early 10s. I heard many versions of that particular anecdote from the time I started until CD drives stopped coming standard.