What Gender is Computer? / A New Computer

WHAT GENDER IS A COMPUTER?Author unknown - Thanks to Becky Noell in Georgia for sending this!

An English teacher was explaining the concept of gender association in the English language. 
He stated how hurricanes at one time were given feminine names, and how ships and planes were usually referred to as "she." One of the students raised their hand and asked, "What gender is a computer"?

The teacher wasn't certain which it was, so he divided the class into two groups, males in one, females in the other, and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine or feminine. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for their recommendation. The group of women concluded that computers should be referred to in the masculine gender because:

1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but half the time they are the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a little longer, you could have had a better model.

The men, on the other hand, decided that computers should definitely be referred to in the feminine gender because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in their long-term memory for later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

A NEW COMPUTER

        Last week my wife and I purchased a new computer. We ran into some difficulties while setting it up so we called the customer support phone number we found in the manual.
        I picked up the phone and called the number. A man answered the phone and I explained the problem to him.
        He began rattling off computer jargon. This confused us even more.

        "Sir," I said politely, "Can you explain what I should do as if I were a small child?"
        "Okay," the computer support guy said, "Son, could you please put your mommy on the phone?"   -- Cited on ArcaMax.com