The First Computer User

[Yameneko549]

I'm not really a writter, but I came up with this short story. No offense to anyone who might read it. Enjoy.

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One day, 5 software developers were standing around a light switch. They were Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Richard Stallman, and Linus Torvalds. They were staring at the light switch wondering how to improve upon it.

Gates said "I'll design a light switch that's user friendly and great to look at!"
With that, he ran off and designed the "Windows Light Switch". It was easy to use and pretty to look at, but had holes in the case for things to get in, and used up a lot of power. It was able to turn on the two most popular kinds of light bulbs, but no others. There wasn't any help on how to install it, and it was so cheap that, if one broke, you could just buy a new wall with the switch, even if the wall was brand new.

Wozniak and Jobs said "We'll design a light switch that's made of our own exclusive parts and even make it great to look at!" With that, they ran off and designed the "Macintosh Light Switch". It was made of exclusive parts, was great to look at, and even had a little port to change which light it turned on. However, if the switch broke, it was hard to get the parts and the help desk just blamed problems on something that the user has done, or even on the wall they were using. It also only turned on one kind of light bulb, though they said they would work on making other kinds compatible.

Torvalds and Stallman said "We'll design a light switch that anyone is free to use or even modify. It'll work with any set of parts and use very little power!" With that, they ran off and designed the "GNU/Linux Light Switch". It worked with any light bulb and was free to use. However, it had so many different variations, that it tended to scare many people away from it. It also had many more uses, though not many people used them for anything else. It wasn't the most popular, but it was loved by almost anyone who used it.

Ten years later, they are standing around the same light switch, bragging about their achievements, when a young boy walked in. All of the designers were shocked and didn't know how to react. They all watched as the boy walked up to the wall. Thinking quickly, the men brought out their switches. As he looked at each of the switches, each of the the them tried to get him to flip their switch. Instead, he chose the original switch, and turned on the light above him. That switch was marked "Knowledge, Choice, and Power". Thus, the first computer user was born.

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[Kayota]

Odd... I don't get it, love. Wot's it about? I mean, a computer isn't a light switch... 0.o;

[Yameneko549]

Think of it this way. Each team made the light switch in their own way, just like with their OSes. The boy was the "computer user", and instead of going with what they gave, he chose differently.

Many people will only make one OS choice in their life. Be it Windows, Mac System\OS, or Linux. He chose to be different and actually give himself an opinion, instead of going one way or another.

It's more symbolic than anything else. Yeah, my mind is wierd sometimes.

{edit: I hate touchpads....}

[Kayota]

Mmm, I hate touch pads too. I sort of get it now. I use Windows, love. :/

[Pogiforce-14]

Don't care much about touch pads, as I'ma touch screener. Nintendo DS all the way!

I myself am not much into symbolism unless it's a poem, which this does seem to be to me. well written anyways, though the concept is a bit farflung.

[Caroline]

Mmm, it was an okay story.
Only issue I had with it was that the ending was kinda hard to understand. Not everyone would have been able to tell why the boy switched on the light for it to become a computer. So the ending was confusing but other than that the story was well written.