Overheard in a computer shop: Customer: "I’d like a mouse mat, please." Salesperson: "Certainly sir, we’ve got a large variety." Customer: "But will they be compatible with my computer?"

I once received a fax with a note on the bottom to fax the document back to the sender when I was finished with it, because he needed to keep it.

Customer: "Can you copy the Internet for me on this diskette?"

I work for a local ISP. Frequently we receive phone calls that go something like this: Customer: "Hi. Is this the Internet?"

Some people pay for their online services with checks made payable to "The Internet."

Customer: "My computer crashed!" Tech Support: "It crashed?" Customer: "Yeah, it won’t let me play my game." Tech Support: "All right, hit Control-Alt-Delete to reboot." Customer: "No, it didn’t crash—it crashed." Tech Support: "Huh?" Customer: "I crashed my game. That’s what I said before. Now it doesn’t work." Turned out, the user was playing Lunar Lander and crashed his spaceship. Tech Support: "Click on ‘File,’ then ‘New Game.’" Customer: [pause] "Wow! How’d you learn how to do that?"