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October 27, 2003
The any key
I got a few yucks out of this one. Here's FAQ2859 from Compaq: Where do I find the "Any" key on my keyboard? This FAQ entry was created on 10/8/2001 and updated on 10/25/2002. Why the update? According to Ralph Lord (who frequents the same lists I do), the original version was written by author bgates and read: Compaq is aware of this problem and is currently researching a solution. Please check back with our website for patches or updates which may address this problem. Ralph writes that the author of this first entry was fired. Interesting that it apparently took a year or so to discover! While amusing, there is also some semblance of cautionary tale there too. It had been a while, so I went and did a Google search for . Interesting that buddy Thom Haller had slots 1 and 2, while I had number 3. But poking through the other search results ultimately sent me back to Richard Saul Wurman, who talked about the "disease of familiarity" in both the original Information Anxiety and its sequel: . Wurman writes: Familiarity breeds confusion. Those afflicted are the experts in the world who, so bogged down by their own knowledge, regularly miss the key points as they try to explain what they know. ... We have all had teachers who we have said are extraordinarily bright, yet we cannot understand what they are saying. Sigh...the more I think about it, the less this FAQ is that amusing. On the other hand, the original response (and author) is still pretty funny...just not that helpful!
Comments
Hopefully the references to Thom and the disease of familiarity all give credit to Wurman. I do use the phrase in my teaching because we all suffer from its wrath :-) -- Posted by thom haller on October 27, 2003 09:35 PM
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IDblog is Beth Mazur tilting at power law windmills. A little bit Internet, a little bit technology, a little bit society, and a lot about designing useful information products. Send your cards and letters to .
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