Its a rare morning, to be sure.

My computer is working fast and flawlessly. The DSL speed is adequate to the task, and instead of facing one frustration after the next, Im actually getting my work done.

And let me point out that my work is not computers in the same way that a cooks work is not a stove. We use them to do our jobs, and the less time we have to attend to their mechanics, the more time and energy we have for getting done what were really paid for doing.

This is so peculiar, this near-effortlessness today that its making me wonder why cant these infernal devices work nicely ALL THE TIME?

Why do we accept such hit and miss performance from them?

In a kindred article, I asked why computers, and by that I mean PCs, laptops, PDAs and similar devices; why cant they run as reliably as appliances, such as refrigerators?

When you open the fridge, you expect cold food.

When you open a device, you expect functionality, as well.

Anyway, I think I may have chosen the wrong item to which to compare the computer. Refrigerators are far too hardy. Arguably, theyre the most durable and reliable machines ever devised.

Actually, most new computers act like very old used cars. Just when you think theyre up and running, they break down again.

I know for a fact that this island of peace that Im occupying right now will be eroded all too soon by those insidious invaders, viruses and spyware.

Before long, it will take eons to boot up, and Ill be working, once more, at a glacial pace.

And then, only after going through tech support or wasting a day fixing it myself, will I have a restored tool.

That great question politicians ask comes to mind, and Id like to paraphrase it for you:

Are you better off today, dependent on these computers, as I am, than you were in the early 1990s, when they were less functional, and the Internet was only a tool known to universities, to the government, and to a relative handful of geeks?

I dont believe I am. In fact, looking back on the past decade, I know Ive done screen time when I should have been doing face time or phone time.

Customers and prospects have left phone messages and Ive responded with email, instead of truly engaging them in real time.

Ive expected my internet presence, and especially my web site to do the heavy lifting of marketing, when deep down I knew that it was really no more than an elaborate brochure, and brochures are notoriously poor at closing deals.

As I write these words, Im actually ashamed at myself for throwing so much time away and investing so much hope in, what for me, is a file cabinet, a library, and a fancy memory typewriter.

Sure, you can doll up these toys, cue up a thousand MP3s on your iPod, glue yourself in front of that cell phone and get blurry vision watching all of the I Love Lucy reruns that you want.

But tell me, has your quality of life really improved because of these devices?