Jan 28, 2009
Isn’t there a reason it’s called a personal computer? Do you share yours?
A friend surprised me once by his reluctance to let me use his computer.
Now I’m the same. Like it’s a diary.
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© 2012 Abuyo. All rights reserved.
yes. THANK YOU. i hate when even my husband gets on my computer.
the thought of other fingers using my keyboard…shudder.
;-)
I was wondering what cows have to do with sharing computers when I realized I misread “diary” as “dairy”. But, it makes me wonder, is there a connection? Keep your hands off my cheese, perhaps?
And there is the “They might screw it up” factor.
I usually assume if someone doesn’t want me on their computer it’s because they have porn on it (or in the browser history). I think that’s a statistically fair assumption, not a judgment call.
I let pretty much anyone use my computer, but my most frequent co-users are a couple of 4 & 5 year olds — kids of other missionaries. So I guess it’s not very likely they’re going to find any of the secrets of my “diary.”
Jayson, I’m glad you brought that up, since I’m assuming a bunch of people are thinking it.
While statistically likely, perhaps, I still wouldn’t assume it’s because of porn.
There are several other reasons to want to keep things private other than guilt.
but I thought they were called MacBooks
I share with people I trust to use it wisely and respectfully.
People hardly ever ask to use my computer.
Me and my wife each have our own computers, but she occasionally uses mine (not often, she doesn’t really like Macs)
Even my wife and I are this way towards each other. She scolds me when I jump on her laptop. I just hide mine from her. Too funny.
They are called MacBooks!
My wife uses mine, I use hers, whichever one is out and available.
I am reluctant to let my daughter use it though. She just hits the keys so hard. Then again, she’s only 9 months old! :-)
I don’t like to let others use it, because I just don’t want them to screw something up. I use this machine to earl a living for my family. The last thing I need is for some Windoze user to foul something!
I learned this lesson a few years ago with my G3 Powerbook. I let the son of a client use it for 10 minutes. He downloaded so many little open source apps and ran them, that it took me a month to ferret out all the stray files and clean up my computer.
Yes, there is a reason it is called a “personal” computer, because you are not sharing a mainframe using punched cards to do your data entry.
We pretty much share our computer in this house, although I am less willing to let my wife use my laptop as it has ‘work’ related stuff on it that I don’t want messed with/moved/and the like.
jim! why did you put “work” in quotes???
not the best post to misuse the quotes, man.
we have one computer. we share. i don’t think of it as personal.
I might be more worried if I knew enough about computers. At any rate, when someone is very reluctant to let others use any of their personal belongings, it tends to come across as selfish and materialistic to me. Just doesn’t really seem to go with Jesus’ “given them your tunic also” sentiment.
well, it’s called a personal computer to distinguish it from older desk (not desktop, desk) computers and mainframes.
if someone tried to use my computer without asking first, i’d be upset, as i would be if they tried to use -anything- of mine without asking. but i never mind letting someone surf or whatever if they ask. i just close a lot of windows first :)
My reluctance is usually because I leave open windows of things to remind me to do something. If someone else comes along they may reuse a window and I lose whatever it was or even worse, it may crash* and I lose all of those little reminders of things I wanted to do.
It’s a lot like letting someone use my desk.
If I have time to prepare, clean up, store my stacks, then I’m happy to let someone else use the desk or the computer.
(*My Mac is much more reliable than the Windows machine, but it could still happen).
Nice to know this is normal.
I have a guest account on my computer for when someone else wants to use it.
It’s not the end of the world if someone uses my account real quick, but I don’t trust people enough not to screw something up — especially since I always have programs open with sensitive data.
Wait, am I judging this is normal based on Matt & Abraham? That’s a pretty skewed sample… :)
i definitely don’t have porn on my computer. i’m just private and selfish.
I like the suggestion of having a guest account available.
Hubby and I share the home computer with me using 90% of the time. This whole subject wouldn’t be an issue for us, but as soon as I saw the statement at the top, it occurred to me that I would NEVER ask someone to let me use their personal computer!…any more than I would casually ask to use their car, their ATM card or their hair brush.
So it gives me a heads up that if I ever do have one of those handy carry-around laptops that I shouldn’t be immediately totally surprised if someone asks to use it. I would have been! Didn’t know that was ever done.
When I get my laptop, I’ll prepare a guest account!
We have more computers than people in our house, and we share them all. My husband is a developer/programmer so there’s no way he can mess up my laptop (which he bought me as a Valentine’s gift 3 years ago as a surprise).
I don’t have any issues with my husband using my computer (nor does he mind if I use his several). I also let my actor-brother use my laptop but he has been forbidden to download anything because, well, I’m married to a computer guy. I don’t download much without asking him if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. And by downloading things I mean like applications and updates.
My parents and sister have used my laptop, too.
The only person who acted weird about my laptop when I let her use it was a friend of mine with a computer-related Bachelor’s degree who noticed I didn’t have some kind of [can't remember the name] movie-type system on here so she felt free to download that for me even though I very politely tried to tell her since I didn’t know what it was I was pretty sure I didn’t need it and wasn’t missing it.
I never did use it, and when I mentioned it to my husband a few months later he just went and removed it. That was kind of strange that she did that.
But yeah, I’m a middle child. I maybe don’t excel at a lot of things but I do excel at sharing.
Oh, and I do consulting work on my PC on occasion but have back-up files and also a new baby so I don’t have much time for that at present.
Long answer. Sorry, Abraham.
Sharon, I would never ask someone else if I could use their computer either. Glad I’m not the only one with those boundaries.
I use Jon’s regularly, although he doesn’t like to use mine (it’s an old dell, and elizabeth has ripped two of my keys right off).
I don’t mind if people use either of our computers..except I’m usually embarrassed when people use Jon’s. That’s only because he has a huge picture of my face plastered as his background. it’s sweet, but i still feel my face turn red when other people use it.
I think it is the “they might screw it up” factor, as well as the “they might re-arrange everything factor” for me. I am much more protective with my laptop than my desktop however…I think it is because my laptop has all my school documents on it. However, I do think that intrafamily use is perfectly acceptable, especially between a husband and wife…just tell her not to rearrange your desktop.
Back up everything encase she does.
i’ve learned to feel comfortable with letting friends use my computer occasionally. what they need is almost always just a few minutes with a web browser. i do sometimes open them a new browser — say, set them up with safari if i’ve got a bazillion tabs of firefox open and don’t want those lost.
I don’t even like my wife to touch my computer. She has her own logon, but she uses mine all the time… and that’s how I get viruses and my settings get messed up. I love her to death, but it bugs me when things aren’t exactly how I like them.
my laptop requires a password to be entered when you wake it up from sleep, so i get to choose who uses it lest it somehow fall into tweenage or other unsavoury hands. but otherwise, i’m happy to let people borrow it. i guess i expect that people know and follow computer etiquette (no downloads, no snooping through my documents, etc.).
Wow, I can’t imagine downloading something onto someone elses computer or rearranging anything – I only ask family and close friends to use their computer if I really need to check my email, and that’s ALL I do.
And I don’t let other people on my home computer – no, no porn, but I work at home on my computer, I’ve signed confidentiality agreements regarding a lot of the information I deal with, and, well, it’s my only source of income. Someone screwing up my computer would be more than just a minor annoyance.
And now my OCD is also kicking in – like I said, I hadn’t considered that someone might rearrange something. Can’t STAND the thought of that happening :).
Oh live a little.
Just give everyone their own sign-on. with passwords. and encryption.
And stop rearranging my desktop, for pete’s sake.
Well, I reluctantly let my brother use my laptop today (and yes, it is called a MacBook). I’m mostly reluctant with him because I’m afraid he’ll become proprietary and I’ll have to fight to use my own computer. I never mind letting friends or my parents use it to check their e-mail or something, though it is always disconcerting when I realize any new browser window someone opens automatically opens my e-mail account, or, when someone else uses g-mail and the next time I use my computer their account automatically opens.
I was taught never to share a toothbrush or a razor. After that, I think anything is fair game.
I don’t mind sharing with friends, so long as I trust them 1) not to download anything, 2) not to visit any shady websites, and 3) to get it back to me by the time I need to use it agian.
Wow. I cannot believe people dislike sharing their computers! not that there is anything wrong with it, it has just never occurred to me, maybe because I wouldn’t care if someone used mine. And I would also assume they weren’t reading my e-mail or anything. I’m glad I’ve never done that with anyone, I’d hate to offend somebody without even realizing it. Maybe I don’t understand because I am from the Texas…is this on of those weird Minnesota things?
Windows users have nothing to worry about, usually mac ppl are more worried that the person using it might break their $5k machine, rather than see their “personal” photo’s…
I let some friends use it gladly. I simply warn them not to delete anything I might’ve saved.
so glad to know I’m not the only one…I’m very picky about letting other people use my laptop(unless its my mom or my dad cause heck they paid for it!)…and on the very rare occasions when I do let them I always say “don’t download anything, don’t open emails from people you don’t know, don’t go looking at weird websites, and certainly do not use Internet Explorer, etc…”
the reason why I dislike sharing mine is because we(my brother, sister and I) had to share our desktop for years and with my brother downloading junk and who knows what else, and my sister letting other people use the computer and them downloading music and opening emails and stuff the poor computer got loaded with viruses and worms and eventually died…so now that I have my very own computer I wouldn’t want it messed up with viruses or who knows what else.
I’m pretty reluctant, too. Nothing insiduous, I just know too much about how computers can get screwed up, and I’m not sure if the other person knows to be careful enough whilst using it. If they pop in a flash drive, even innocently, they could unknowingly upload a virus onto my system, etc.
You can assume it’s porn — just keep your
ridiculous opinionsassessment to yourself, since it’s likely wrong.I’ll share mine, as long as the person asks. The files that I don’t want people to see (such as my journal entries), I have password protected.