Random Access Memories

Some decisions are just horrifically bad.

Like, really, REALLY bad.

Let’s take for a moment a decision by Gateway computer around 2005.

“Hey guys! Let’s add in some software so when the computer monitor is disconnected from it’s computer it goes into this horribly annoying mode. Since the only reason we put monitors on other computers is when they’re stolen, right?”

Most of you can already see the disaster this causes. Businesses that move parts between computers comes to mind, or my case when these monitors end up on the used market.

I unwittingly bought one of these monitors from Goodwill. It tested fine (at first) and seemed good and pretty.

Then, I saw this pop up:

Oh, lovely… but this can probably be fixed I figured. Most companies understand how their bad decisions go awry.

Hrrm, so the software was made by a third party company, not good.

All the download links to said software don;t even work anymore, also not good.

Sending an email to their support email on their site returns deliverable, hopelessly bad.

So, I get to throw this pretty 22″ LCD monitor in the garbage.

All because Gateway decided it would make a horrible decision, and never bother to put out a fix when that decision went to shit.

Thanks Gateway! Oh, wait, I mean Acer that bought them in 2007.

So, I have tried lots of online dating sites in the last decade. OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Match.com, eHarmony.com, the Tinder app, etc. I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on profiles, special greeting messages, pictures, and even some money on premium services. Yet today as I found myself rewriting a profile yet again I suddenly realized something.

I have never, ever met someone in person because of one of those sites.

And it shocked me. All this time and effort expended, for nothing. Yet I kept coming back and spending time on it. Scratching away figuring that someone on there would want to spend time with little old me.

Where have I been meeting people?

Everywhere else.

The app Whisper, Facebook, Fetlife, RL meetups (Non-dating ones. Dating specific meetups produced the same empty results that online dating has.), etc.

So my conclusion? Don’t bother with dating sites or apps. They are a total waste of time, and a horrible waste of money. Your results will vary of course, but mine have had a failure rate of 100%.

I have better things to do with my time and money than waste it on services that provide a horribly false sense of hope.