"NOT RESPONDING"

THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE AGE OF THE INTERNET.

The indestructibility of the World Wide Web, the advent of MySpace, the zillion-thoughts-a-second instantaneousness of computers.

So why the hell is that at least once a day, with a high-end Dell PC that I purchased less than six months ago, I get this response from Blogger or from this site or that site: "NOT RESPONDING."

Or I get some stupid message that comes on saying this program or that program saying "We apologize, but mim needs to shut this program down now. Would you like to send an error report?"

No, I'd like to kick you in the balls!

I see bloggers mention it all the time: can't post a picture, lose a lengthy comment on a post you've just spent the last 15 minutes composing, lose a song I've just downloaded when the site shuts down...

You spend $2,000 on your new computer, another $50 a month on your high-speed connection, you buy optional programs like Limewire or Flickr or this or that...and it all goes kersplat.

Is this some big conspiracy by the computer companies and servers and website operators, including Blogger, to drive us mad so that we'll just spend more on the next highest level of service that STILL will break down?

I realize technology is fragile. But why don't they just spit it out and say, "Shit happens. Things break down. This is what you should expect. We don't have it all right. We are not infallible."

But they don't. Instead, they offer outdated advisories saying this site or that site will be taken down for maintenance. But that usually happens only after users have lost this or that.

While I'm at it, might as well whine a bit more. Why do they offer those boxes that say "remember my password," and you click on it to do so, and it never DOES remember your password?

Am I a complete whiner who just doesn't have a clue because I don't have my PhD in getting along with computers or what?