Its amusing how some customers can get computer terminology so wrong.

An elderly lady rang the other day. She said her computer would sometime just stop working.

I said it could be something like the power supply, or the memory (I avoid using terms like “RAM” and “motherboard”… it confuses many people).

She then said she had spoken to a friend. She said: “He told me that the computer temple was broken”.

I said: “I’m not sure what you mean by temple…”.

Then she says: “Oh I can’t remember exactly what he called it… that black thing under the desk with buttons and lights on it, and a tray at the front”.

Me: “Ohhh, you mean the computer tower! Well, hopefully its something simpler and easier than that”

But at the end of the call, I couldn’t help smiling at how newcomers to computers can sometimes get the terminology so wrong, that its funny.

But then she might have had it right after all: I’m just about to kneel before my own “computer temple” and change the video card…