Everyone needs a little on-the-job stress relief. When it comes to the information technology field, there is certainly enough stress to go around, given the need for constant professional development and software training courses, and the high demands and tight deadlines involved in most roles. The high levels of compensation and job security make the job stress and information technology training well worth it, though.
But when job tasks seem either overwhelming or monotonous, an information technology professional still might need to blow off some steam. Thankfully, the field is very conducive to such things – so much so that programmers’ practical jokes and surreptitious gags can actually become famous in their own right.
This is on our minds at the moment because of the viral attention that has been given to an Easter egg discovered in the latest iPhone operating system. People were delighted to learn that if you ask Siri to divide zero by zero, the computer voice pointedly tells you that your question makes no sense.
If you have a lot of information technology training under your belt and it makes you feel sorry for people who are barely novices when it comes to navigating the technological world of the 21st century, this story seems to bring good news. Apparently people don’t actually mind having programmers make fun of them, as long as they do it through the medium of the software they use on a daily basis to make their lives easier and more entertaining.
In the current case, Siri illustrates the problem by inviting you to divide zero cookies among zero friends, then tells you, “Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad that you have no friends.”
We think it’s worth reflecting for a moment on the fact that this joke, which has been shared among thousands of tech savvy people around the country, is in a real sense the result of someone’s lifelong information technology training and a bevy of software training courses. The relevant programmers are no doubt making a great deal of money as Apple employees today, but the ITIL training, Agile training, etc. that allowed them to get to that point also gave them the less tangible but still valuable opportunity to raise an unexpected smile from a lot of people who just wanted to use their phone as a calculator.
If you’re pursuing information technology training with an eye toward a growing bank account and a generous retirement package, you won’t be disappointed. But Siri’s jokes and a long list of similar programmer Easter eggs should help to fortify you against the often unanticipated danger of getting burned out on an otherwise rewarding career. Given the right companies, roles, and skill sets the field of information technology can be a fun field to work in, with plenty of opportunities to joke around, even at the end-user’s expense.