Amusing and Humorous Technical Keynotes

I was giving a technical keynote speech for a division of the Department of Defense earlier this year and parts of it ended up being quite humorous. There are some very funny things about technology and how we use it, at least to a technical audience.

Afterwards I thought, “Hey, this stuff is just funny – I bet almost every audience would ‘get it.’” After all, we almost all use email and computers and suffer the same annoyances and have the same grievances. Non technical people might also find some solace that everyone has the same problems and frustrations – I certainly do!

Having to reboot our computers regularly, even though we never have to reboot our kitchen appliances, is an unfortunate fact and something that applies to all of us. When computers work the way they should, we won’t be rebooting them anymore (hint: the technology needs to stop changing so rapidly – it’s a disservice to all computer users, and it doesn’t just seem like it, they ARE more complicated than they need to be).

Computers are essentially worthless when just a few years old, yet my mother’s avocado green refrigerator from the seventies still works fine. Most of us can relate to this! Did you know that used computers qualify as “hazardous waste” in much of the US and you need to pay to have them removed? Charities like Goodwill don’t want them and won’t take them.

Some people’s obsession with email, although sometimes bordering on pathological, can be quite funny. My wife claims I check my email more often than I go to the bathroom! My occasionally homeless friend Butch’s near email addiction sometimes seems bizarre. Wouldn’t a homeless person have more important concerns than email? Well, he uses email just like the rest of us. It’s even more important to him since he rarely can be reached by phone, but he does have email access easily available at a number of places including his public library. His very active social schedule is organized via email.

I’ve used some of this material for a couple of speeches I’ve given in the past few weeks and it IS humorous and amusing to just about everyone. I’m not a humorist, but sometimes truth is funnier than fiction!

For more on my speaking, click on Keynote Speeches.