Depiction of Computers in US TV shows - Nearly Always Awful?

ixoy

Just watched a couple of shows there today and it's my continued belief that most US TV shows depict computers in such an unrealistic manner that even basic users would spot it. I'm talking about stuff like:

001) The big one here gets to be the mouse. Characters never use a mouse. Instead they bash keys on the keyboard performing the same actions as a mouse would (possible, but not in the way they do it). This generally includes pressing about one key to highlight and zoom in on a picture/video that their co-worker has just pointed out. No software generally visible either.

010) Passwords always showing up in password fields (even HTML always you to asterisk them out simply!). This one bugs me in particular - a large number of people would have to log in to work machines and would know passwords are not displayed in the field.

011) Everything is archived online. Including 100-old issues of whatever local newspaper you want. Obviously, most of this stuff would still be on micro-fiche if available at all (e.g. older editions of 'The Irish Times' are).

100) When you're doing video communication, you have a full screen window with flawless transmission. No OS is visible. This would happen even before higher bandwidths but even as it is now, it's not generally realistic.

101) Presentations of accidents/crime recreations are created with extreme ease by the genius tech. in a few hours. Yes, there are software packages to assist but the speed of this beggars belief. The likes of CSI or 'Bones' are big culprits in this area.

110) Web-sites designed as either something that would require insanely-high bandwidth or, conversely, designed like something by a 12-year old for their neighbour's home-run business.

111) Characters when using the OS (generally to copy something out) press one button and have a "Copying.." sign appear. Regardless of the media, it will always take to the last second to copy.

I'm sure there's other areas I'm missing out on..

Am I the only who still groans about this? Surely some other IT nerd types here care!

So is there any show where the actual capabilities of computers are used more realistically or where the characters are using a computer in a normal fashion that you could use?

I'd put forward "Veronica Mars" as a show where they get their IT right, with characters using websites that look real, proper applications (FireFox for example), the mouse, and so on. After that I begin to struggle (least in the US, UK shows generally seem to do it better). Any other ones spring to mind?

chalkitdown1

I imagine the lack of a visible OS in non-cable shows and such is because they don't want to have to hand over a giant wad of cash to Microsoft or whoever to use images of 'windows', etc. Which is understandable. Some do it, but it's fairly rare. You'll see them all the time on programs on cable channels like HBO & Showtime, though, as they're gonna have a much bigger budget.

There's no excuse for them not ever using a mouse in the likes of CSI, however.

Dave!

Please tell me you didn't use binary to number that list......!!! TELL ME IT AINT SO!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ruu_Old

Related to the zooming in of a very crappy, surveillance video, they somehow end up with a high resolution shot of the person (or whatever else they are looking at!) which is absolutely pixel perfect.

Conor108

And the ridiculous GUIs! In 24 or Stargate Atlantis, on the screen theres usually numbers or writing randomly scrolling with no apparent purpose! Or in 24, when they do a thermal scan of a building and get a perfectly rendered 3d model in seconds. Another time in Atlantis where she goes

"download it to a non-networked firewalled computer"

Pretty hard to download to a computer if its not on a network:D

Vokes

ixoy wrote:

Just watched a couple of shows there today and it's my continued belief that most US TV shows depict computers in such an unrealistic manner that even basic users would spot it. I'm talking about stuff like:

...

Any other ones spring to mind?

ixoy, im guessing you aren't a fan of Chloe's elite hacking skills on Smallville either

ixoy

Ruu wrote:

Related to the zooming in of a very crappy, surveillance video, they somehow end up with a high resolution shot of the person (or whatever else they are looking at!) which is absolutely pixel perfect.

Oh I forgot that! Again, one the crime dramas love. As much as I know it's there to aid the story, the part of me that's been in this industry for years wants to see a blurred image that will take them hours to render properly.

SofaKing wrote:

ixoy, im guessing you aren't a fan of Chloe's elite hacking skills on Smallville either

Nope But I like her character so it helps me ignore it, especially as 'Smallville' is daft anyway. Similarly 24's Chloe works more computer voodoo, liberally sprinkling every tech sentence with "open a port".

DaveMcG wrote:

Please tell me you didn't use binary to number that list......!!! TELL ME IT AINT SO!!!!!!!

Ah but I didn't have enough entries to use hexadecimal

Sandwich

The incidence of it has faded out lately with the Windows or windowsesque GUIs predominating, but how often have you seen people typing or reading text on a screen with a HUGE font. Often only about 10 characters accross the screen! Ok, they wanted us to read it on a cinema screen - but realistic.................

homah_7ft

I think The Wire tries to use computers and IT in general in a realistic way. Obviously within some confines of dramatic licence.

Auvers

DaveMcG wrote:

Please tell me you didn't use binary to number that list......!!! TELL ME IT AINT SO!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I was just about to post that

ixoy

homah_7ft wrote:

I think The Wire tries to use computers and IT in general in a realistic way. Obviously within some confines of dramatic licence.

Actually was going to cite that too. For example, in the second season they have a little program for monitoring the crates at the dock. The GUI is simplistic but clearly functional - displaying the information required, as they would be.

Mr E

010) Passwords always showing up in password fields (even HTML always you to asterisk them out simply!). This one bugs me in particular - a large number of people would have to log in to work machines and would know passwords are not displayed in the field.

Don't forget that they're in a big box in the middle of the screen and in a huge font, so anyone looking from 100 feet away can see what the password is.

homah_7ft

Another thing I find annoying is that every action taken has to have a sound associated with it. CSI drives me mental with all the beeps.

philstar

don't know about the depiction...but on most of those US shows they seem to be pluggin mac's

Pigman II

ixoy wrote:

001) The big one here gets to be the mouse. Characters never use a mouse. Instead they bash keys on the keyboard performing the same actions as a mouse would

I agree with most of the points you bring up but how is that one so unrealistic? I use a computer at work and never use a mouse. You soon become an expert at using keycombinations for everything.

Anyway, most US tv shows have an air of unreality about them in general, so why should the computers depicted within be any different?

DublinWriter

ixoy wrote:

I'd put forward "Veronica Mars" as a show where they get their IT right, with characters using websites that look real, proper applications (FireFox for example), the mouse, and so on. After that I begin to struggle (least in the US, UK shows generally seem to do it better). Any other ones spring to mind?

The Bill is also pretty spot on when it comes to showing the characters using some of the Met's internal systems.

Basq

Spot on ixoy... i've been saying this stuff for years!

And have also put Veronica Mars high on the list in the lack of techno-foibles!

The worst offenders of this has to be '24' - every time Chloe O Brien brings up something on screen, she breaks almost every rule on the list.

PS - the list in binary gave me a giggle too!

mr_angry

Conor108 wrote:

And the ridiculous GUIs! In 24 or Stargate Atlantis, on the screen theres usually numbers or writing randomly scrolling with no apparent purpose! Or in 24, when they do a thermal scan of a building and get a perfectly rendered 3d model in seconds. Another time in Atlantis where she goes

"download it to a non-networked firewalled computer"

Pretty hard to download to a computer if its not on a network:D

This has always been the one I've picked up on - mad graphs swirling across the screen in a matter of seconds, clearly rendering whatever information is being displayed completely useless!

Someone should re-write "The Trouble With Tribbles" as "The Trouble With Terminals", and demonstrate a load of characters sitting around in a crisis situation shouting "Which command-line argument do I use with this? Does nobody have a copy of the man page???"

Could be good!

regeneration

Does anyone remember that dreadful Will Smith movie, "Enemy of the State"? Well according to that piece of art, computers can take flat satellite images of, say, a car, and magically ROTATE the damn image so they suddenly have a perfect shot of the licence plate.

I mean c'mon people. Seriously.

_Kaiser_

Conor108 wrote:

And the ridiculous GUIs! In 24 or Stargate Atlantis, on the screen theres usually numbers or writing randomly scrolling with no apparent purpose! Or in 24, when they do a thermal scan of a building and get a perfectly rendered 3d model in seconds. Another time in Atlantis where she goes

"download it to a non-networked firewalled computer"

Pretty hard to download to a computer if its not on a network:D

Transfer it via USB HDD/key?

S.M.B.

Dumb shows, for dumb people, portray computers in an unrealistically dumb manner. Intelligent shows don't.

PauloMN

regeneration wrote:

Does anyone remember that dreadful Will Smith movie, "Enemy of the State"? Well according to that piece of art, computers can take flat satellite images of, say, a car, and magically ROTATE the damn image so they suddenly have a perfect shot of the licence plate.

I mean c'mon people. Seriously.

Not a patch on Independence Day (funnily enough also staring Will Smith). In this movie, Jeff Goldblum manages to upload a virus from his computer directly to the aliens' computer system.

Now we on earth can have enough trouble trying to get 2 f**kin' PCs talking to each other sometimes, yet Mr. Goldblum's computer can connect without issue and upload a virus that he's managed to program to destroy their system.

He's make a fortune as an IT contractor, and those computers he has would sell like hot cakes out of PC World!!

Cabaal

Conor108 wrote:

Another time in Atlantis where she goes

"download it to a non-networked firewalled computer"

Pretty hard to download to a computer if its not on a network:D

shhhh your ruining it for everybody, maybe he used a USB stick?

Cabaal

PauloMN wrote:

Not a patch on Independence Day (funnily enough also staring Will Smith). In this movie, Jeff Goldblum manages to upload a virus from his computer directly to the aliens' computer system.

Now we on earth can have enough trouble trying to get 2 f**kin' PCs talking to each other sometimes, yet Mr. Goldblum's computer can connect without issue and upload a virus that he's managed to program to destroy their system.

He's make a fortune as an IT contractor, and those computers he has would sell like hot cakes out of PC World!!

It was PowerMac, they could do anything

Dodge

A word here for the office (US version in case anybody start the "we only mentioned US shows" argument). Fairly realistic use of PCs, complete with office staff playing solitaire

Pigman II

That's right. I watched an ep on the bus this morning where Pam was playing minesweeper. Then I get into work and a temp sitting in front of me is playing minesweeper. I wanted to be sick.

Conor108

Cabaal wrote:

shhhh your ruining it for everybody, maybe he used a USB stick?

No no he just thumped the keyboard and bam there it was

vallo

1000) "Access Denied" flashing on screen, as the hero(ine) desperately tries to type in the aforementioned cleartext giant passwords. I don't think I've ever actually seen the text "Access Denied" used in real life ... "invalid password" doesn't have the same sense of drama, I suppose.

The worst fillm abuse of technology was one where the premise was reasonable enough - Demi Moore sexually harassing her employee Michael Douglas - but went off into a early 1990's futuristic vision of a virtual reality filing system where stick-men robots with Demi Moore's head on them slammed filing cabinet doors shut as "Access Denied" labels swirled around the hapless cyber-Douglas like so much techno confetti.
Hopefully I imagined all that but I don't think so.