Other Computer Gripers

The person who comes the closest to doing what I am doing is Ed Foster, who wrote a column in InfoWorld magazine called The Gripe Line. Unfortunately, the last column in the magazine was in April 2003. He had a 10 year run. A list of his columns can be found here. This old link still works. His web site is gripe2ed.com where you can sign up for his gripe newsletter.  

I haven't used Consumerist.com much but it seems to be all gripes from its readers, though not limited to computers.

The Microsoft Crash Gallery showing screenshots and photos of software screwing up, 

Rip-off Report has a number of computer sections

Jeff Levy on Computers is a radio show on KFI 640 AM in Los Angeles. The host attempts to help people with their computer problems. However, he makes technical mistakes and a listener, Ken Nign, points them all out.

Mark Minasi wrote a book in 1999 called The Software Conspiracy about "Why Software Companies Put Out Faulty Products, How They Can Hurt You, And What You Can Do About It". This is not the usual Mark Minasi book in that it's written for a broad audience, not just for computer nerds. If you've ever wondered why software companies get away with defect levels that would put a restaurant, automaker, or home builder out of business, then this is the book for you. The intended audience is both techies and non-techies. As of June 2002 the book is available for $5 as an e-book (a PDF file). 

The Bug Blog - an (almost) daily look at computer bugs. By Bruce Kratofil. 

Dirty Laundry of the Computer Industry by Richard M. Smith. The major topics covered here are Famous Computer Bugs, Software Patents, Legal Troubles of the Rich and Famous and Odds and Ends.  http://www.computerbytesman.com/dl/index.htm  

Computer Stupidities. A collection of stories and anecdotes about clueless computer users. This site is the opposite of mine in that they gripe about computer users, whereas I gripe about the computer. When a user does something that a techie thinks is stupid, I view it as bad documentation. They view it as a funny example of a clueless person. I'm right.

Rants and Raves at geek.com. As of this writing, there have been no updates to this for 6 months, it may be abandoned. It contains foul language.

Security Bugware maintains a list of bugs in assorted software: many flavors of Unix, Windows NT, Internet Explorer and more. 

Obfusco is another computer gripe web site. Not as many topics as this site, but most topics are very long. Mostly of interest to computer programmers. 

Techdirt Not exactly a gripe web site, it claims to be an alternative to "the clean PR-approved press releases of the high tech industry." Intended for business people in the high tech industry, it's a web site where people say what they think, no matter how good or bad, and then stick around to talk about it afterwards.

Bad Software is a book by Cem Kaner and David L. Pels about getting your money's worth when you buy computer software. They wrote it to help you get a refund, support, or compensation for significant losses caused by defective software. Bad Software will help you explore your legal rights. Chapter 1 of the book is available on the web site. Its called You have rights when you buy defective software. There is also information on UCITA.

NetFuture is an email newsletter from Stephen L. Talbott that attempts to open people's minds to what the author sees as the unintended, usually negative, impact of technology on society. Quoting from the NetFuture home page about the newsletter: "It looks beyond the generally recognized 'risks' of computer use such as privacy violations, unequal access, censorship, and dangerous computer glitches. It seeks especially to address those deep levels at which we half-consciously shape technology and are shaped by it." 

The Risks Digest, a Forum on Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems. This is a moderated digest and is equivalent to the Usenet newsgroup comp.risks.

An annoyance is close to a gripe. O'Reilly publishes books called Windows X Annoyances. Currently there are Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me Annoyances, with Windows 2000 Annoyances on the way. www.annoyances.org has information from all the Annoyances books. 

MSNBC on Technology Goofs and Glitches. Stories about hacking, software bugs and more. 

MSNBC Bug of the Day.

BugToaster  A computer program that you can download from their web site and run on any Windows computer (no Macs, no Linux). When a program on your computer crashes (note that I said when, not if) the BugToaster program collects information about the crash and sends it to the main BugToaster database. It could be that there is a known fix for the bug you experienced. If not, by helping them collect data on Windows bugs, you are helping in the eventual resolution of the problem. 

Theresa has a page with gripes about the Hewlett Packard 8550 Laser Printer

The Interface Hall of Shame is/was a collection of common computer interface design mistakes (this site may have died). Design mistakes are grouped by the type of mistake, not by the computer product which, in my opinion, lessens the usefulness of the site. Also, the pages tend to be very big with many images on them so they take forever to load. Finally, most of the examples refer to computer programs without stating the version/release of the program that exhibits the problem or the date when the problem was observed. How fitting that a site about computer interface problems should have so many of its own. www.iarchitect.com/shame.htm

While on the subject of poor interface design, Design Not Found is a section on the web site of 37signals that documents poor (and some good) web site design. 

The Trouble With Computers : Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity by Thomas K. Landauer. 
    Paperback 1996. As of May 2001 Amazon was selling it for $14.  I have not read this book.