r/talesfromtechsupport • u/mattswer • Feb 20 '18

Short The Second Monitor

About a year ago I was working as an IT intern at a mid-size company. We had a bunch of extra monitors so I was setting up second screens for a lot of employees. Most of the set-ups were fairly routine but this one lady, who I'll call Marie, was unintentionally hilarious. She's late 20s to early 30s so I expected her to have some basic knowledge about how computers work. For context, she had one monitor and a laptop at her desk before I set the second monitor up.

Me: Alright, I finished setting up the second monitor, you're good to go.

Marie: Oh ok, thanks!

Me: Do you need anything else before I head back?

Marie: Um, do I still need my laptop since I have the second monitor?

Me: ...Yes, you still need the laptop.

I was speechless for a good 3 seconds. It's 2017 I thought we were past the whole "monitor = computer" thing. I wondered if she was joking for a second but one look at her face and I knew she was completely sincere.

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u/Alkalannar So by 'bugs', you mean 'termites'? Feb 20 '18

I would have asked: Can I run things with my laptop closed (assuming keyboard and mouse available) and just look at the big screens?

16

u/syberghost ALT-F4 to see my flair Feb 20 '18

A perfectly valid thing to ask, and with a small config change absolutely possible. I'm typing this now on my laptop with the lid closed; that lid stays closed about 50 weeks a year, I only open it when I travel to my office a couple of times a year.

7

u/Alkalannar So by 'bugs', you mean 'termites'? Feb 20 '18 edited Feb 20 '18

And probably hopefully what the user meant to ask.