Give it a good whack

16-11-2006

I like to read, a lot. If I bought every book I wanted to read I’d have no money left. So I like to take advantage of my local library and I get through a lot of books each month on loan.

Today I went to pick up some more books and I like to use those self-service machines. I never have to interact with any member of staff or wait in a queue. I just insert my library card and swipe the books that have come in for me. Then when you remove the card you can get a printout, or not, your choice.

This time however when I removed my card, nothing happened. The message to remove your card or place the next book under the scanner was still on the screen. Now being a software tester by trade I went into problem solving mode. I placed my card back, tried all screen options, but nothing. It would not detect when I removed my card.

I finally gave in and made eye contact with the Librarian who came over to see what the problem was. I was told it has been playing up lately and there is a knack to fixing it. She whacked the top with the palm of her hand. The screen then detected the card had been removed, printed out a receipt and returned to the welcome screen.

Its surprising how that no matter how advanced we get with technology, a good old fashioned whack can still fix a problem when the technology goes a little screwy.