Crucial Study Finds that Computers Cause Stress

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

A survey by Crucial revealed that most of us are unhappy with our computers, and consider them as source of stress.

Several years ago, when I was holding a dinner table speech about some new technology, a friend reminded me that computers simply solve problems we otherwise would not have, and that computers create problems that they do not solve. A whopping 94 percent of survey respondents said that they experienced computer performance problems causing stress. 52 percent of respondents said they are unhappy with the performance of their PC.

The level of stress was greater than that experienced when choosing what to wear (47 percent), traffic jams (27 percent), going through airport security (21 percent), dealing with finances (19 percent), filing taxes (18 percent), managing their overall health (14 percent), and arguing with their spouse (13 percent). Crucial's debate ties into a discussion in the industry how much performance the average user really needs. However, most of the time, this debate focuses on the GPU and not on the memory.

Wolfgang Gruener
58 Comments Comment from the forums
  • atikkur
    until highend gpu cannot render realtime avatar quality rendered graphics in 60+ fps for video games,, we are not satisfied with our computer performance.
    Reply
  • math1337
    94% of consumers are too stupid to uninstall the bloatware that comes with new computers. Also, they download EVERYTHING on the internet and install it. I've seen it happen too many times.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    Losers. Get an SSD, an i3 and 4-8 GB of RAM and stop complaining. Oh, and get a life while you're at it, computers might create problems they don't solve but there won't be airport security, finances, taxes and other stuff without them, so STFU and deal with it.

    Also, stress over choosing what to wear? Seriously? Seriously? I don't think I can take the survey seriously, the respondents seem to be whiny drama queens.
    Reply
  • ickarumba1
    Was anyone else initially fooled by the title?
    "Crucial study" made me think of a well-researched, peer-reviewed study with a very convincing conclusion.
    When reading the article, I found that the study is the complete opposite of what I originally thought it would be.
    Reply
  • whitey_rolls1984
    A good chunk of this too could come from the corporate world as well. I worked at a place from 2008 to 2011 and my computer there caused me stress. It was a job where I would get a phone call and be expected to use my computer in order to discuss matters with a client. My computer was like a p4 with 256 mb of memory.

    Thankfully the place I'm at now just gave me a $1,800 HP laptop with a Core I7, Nvidia workstation GPU and 8 gigs of memory - no more stress.
    Reply
  • beayn
    Well duh, when you spend $299 or $399 at Walmart on your computer, of COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO BE UNHAPPY WITH ITS PERFORMANCE.

    Spend a little extra money and get a decent system. Get an SSD, a decent CPU and a $150 video card.
    Reply
  • halcyon
    My little Macs are not causing me any stress that I'm aware of ....and TBH I don't turn my PC on enough to cause me stress at all.
    Reply
  • ojas
    halcyonMy little Macs are not causing me any stress that I'm aware of ....and TBH I don't turn my PC on enough to cause me stress at all.Well, spending a fortune for them is considered to be stressful by some.
    Reply
  • beayn
    halcyonMy little Macs are not causing me any stress that I'm aware of ....and TBH I don't turn my PC on enough to cause me stress at all.Did you pay $299 for your Mac?
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    whitey_rolls1984A good chunk of this too could come from the corporate world as well. I worked at a place from 2008 to 2011 and my computer there caused me stress. It was a job where I would get a phone call and be expected to use my computer in order to discuss matters with a client. My computer was like a p4 with 256 mb of memory. Thankfully the place I'm at now just gave me a $1,800 HP laptop with a Core I7, Nvidia workstation GPU and 8 gigs of memory - no more stress.
    Back in 2010 or so, I recall seeing a company still using Windows NT 4.0. Small surprise that almost all of the employees were unhappy.


    At my school, all of the teachers got new laptops. Many of them picked the Macbook Pro, only to realize that a good portion of the education software were not compatible with the OS.

    As for our computer labs, about a quarter of our computers are either in the repair shop, malfunctioning (purple-tinted or fuzzy monitors, or can't boot), or are partially dissembled and lying around in the labs. Also, they're all P4 computers, and the internet connection and servers suck as well.
    Reply