Life's a Glitch: The Faceless Scapegoat

I cringe every time I read the words "computer glitch" as the alleged cause for everything from election screw-ups to health plan fiascos. Of course the underlying basis for such language is obvious. The computer isn't a person, it can't object loudly, and it sounds so much better than, "I dropped the ball," or "my staff entered data erroneously" or "we failed to set up our business rules correctly." Perhaps frustrated by their own computer interactions, readers let it slide with a "Yeah, makes you wanna toss it out the window sometimes, don't it?"

But those who programmed the applications the users are using (and blaming) want to throw something else out the window. While reporters will stop at nothing to determine if baseball players are indeed achieving their amazing grand-slam records with the help of performance enhancing substances, the "computer glitch" scapegoat seems to be universally accepted. Why do programmers take it lying down?

Well, for starters, it's not like some of us have never been guilty of causing what might be labeled a "computer glitch" by some flaw in logic, a simple oversight, or lack of robust testing. In fact, that's what makes the "computer glitch" scapegoat so perfect: it's believable. Second, it seems the only thing that would result from valiantly defending the computer's honor is a counter-productive finger-pointing match (which might get one fired).

So instead, I write about it now, in the theoretical, not tied to a specific incident. The "computer glitch" scapegoat ranks right up there with the infamous line: "Mistakes were made." Disembodied responsibility.