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Gadgets behave
badly if not loved

It's long been known that predatory animals can smell fear. Now it appears that certain machines and electronic devices can smell distrust by users and react negatively. Anyone facing a deadline on a long report or project only to have the computer printer crash as if on cue knows of this phenomenon.

My wife and I recently made the mistake of discussing out loud our plans to sell her car while riding in said vehicle only to have the thing suddenly develop a serious mechanical malady cured only by $300 in repairs. The car clearly resented our lack of support and contrived to punish us before we could put it on the market. If only we had communicated in discreet nudges and winks, the car would have been none the wiser and we $300 richer.

Computers are highly susceptible to bad vibes being given off by the user. How many times has your computer shut down in a snit simply because you thought it wasn't working fast enough? I was writing a column on this very computer about the moodiness of computers not long ago when (and I mean this in the least offensive way possible, Mr. Computer) it went from iMac to iQuit in midsentence. Since then, I daily express my undying love and admiration for it, and it's working like a champ. Good iMac, good boy!

Large appliances, in particular, react badly to criticism or perceived perfidy. My friend was considering getting a new washing machine only to come home from work to find that his disheartened Maytag had popped off its hose and filled his house with water for several hours.

Researchers at Princeton University have released a study that purports to show that machines behave badly when they sense bad vibes by users.

"There are some people who seem to have a natural rapport with computers and other complex machines, and there are other people who seem to break everything without touching it," one of the researchers said.

To put all the blame on the user's attitude seems unfair. I've found that, historically, it's the computer's behavior that first sends me reaching for a baseball bat.

The researchers say users of mechanical and electronic devices "seem to change the output of the machines simply by thinking about them."

That would clearly imply the machines are thinking about the users right back and reacting in a petulant manner. (Not you, Mr. iMac, I'm talking about that insolent ceiling fan over there.)