I generally select a favourite when using identical public access
machines. As an undergrad at the University of Waterloo, my friends
and I all had a favourite terminal room and favourite computers
within them. I'd usually be a bit irate to return from dinner to
find somebody else on `my' computer. When I started my graduate
work, I had a favourite machine in the common-access labs, and
would be annoyed if somebody else had it locked. I have never
lined up waiting for my favourite though.
But I don't think was because we personified the computer/terminal:
you could have swapped them with an *identical* machine, and we
wouldn't have followed the original to its new location.
If you swapped the machines for something with a different keyboard,
different mouse, or another display, any attachment might disappear.
I'd also hazard that by remaining at a consistent location, I
learned of the different distractions and how to filter them.
Other factors surely include the surrounding environment: the
colour of the labs (one of ours had a horrible fuscia colour) and
the chairs.
But perhaps the biggest factor was the general busyness of the lab:
whether my friends and I could get machines relatively close for
collaborative purposes.
Brian.
On 2004.04.26 14:52:33 +0100, Derek M Jones wrote:
> My question is whether subjects were actually expressing a
> preference for a particular computer or were simply returning
> to the same cubical on every visit? Did the computers have
> identifying marks that subjects were aware of, were computers
> switched to different locations?
--
Brian de Alwis | Graduate student | Software Practices Lab | UBC
"There is much pleasure to be gained in useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell
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