It was an unforeseen impertinence which began this long delay. A sudden cessation of our internet, followed by the installation of a brand spanking new box from our soon-to-be previous cable TV and phone providers, and our now previous broadband suppliers, and then after assurance that the broadband would be back up and running on the coming Saturday (about four weeks since, I think) and phone calls to a place half way around the world, it appears that the company I want now to consign to room 101 not only does not support Linux, but only supports three very specific operating systems: Windoze XP, Windoze Vista and Mac OS X 10.5. Thus even our old computer which ran Windoze 98 will be useless for these purposes. The former two I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole, the latter (Mac) I would happily try; but why should I buy something I don't necessarily need, and which won't necessarily improve my computing experience? And, furthermore, after their internet has been arriving in my computer during the past two years we've been on Linux, why should they, this huge conglomerate capable of accumulating billions and billions of dollars (according to Wikipedia), in their infinite wisdom (wisdom enough to attain such capital), suddenly decide that they no longer care to support us?
The main problem with big business seems to me to be the general impersonality of the whole thing. We, as 'customers' aren't dealt with personally, and any semblance of personal dealings - such as, perhaps, a real life person arriving to ask me how I personally feel about their services - will inevitably be a con, with only pecuniary motives (ones regarding money) to drive them to our door. We see this quite obviously from our reactions to call-centres phoning us of an evening, with an employee addressing us with our personal names; but we know what they're up to, and have very little trust or time for them. Or, at least, I would hope we have.
I think my main feeling from all this is: is the world actually structured in such a way as to engender happiness in every individual, and thus improve the quality of the world itself? I would answer no, and it is this whole idea of big businesses and the 'global economy' that stand in the way of such happiness and quality. I want to be spoken to as a person, not as an arbitrary example of a typical member of the mass-population, and so it is that I wish to consign, along with Virgin M£dia and Micro$oft, all big businesses and all impersonal dealings to room 101. We'll be back on a similar subject in a later article, but, for now, take care, and be joyful that you aren't one of those contributing to the downfall of our once beautiful Earth.
Word of the Week
Impersonality
impersonality n. from impersonal adj. 1 having no personality. 2 having no personal feeling or reference. 3 Gram. a (of a verb) used only with a formal subject (usu. it) and expressing an action not attributable to a definite subject (e.g. it is snowing). b (of a pronoun) = INDEFINITE.
Definition courtesy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary
