Welcome to the little-documented world where things like plastic fry-ups, cable wasp nests, and lumps of hand grease are a daily occurrence.

Where tech support heroes, aka employees, are there for their desperate clients, tackling the worst and the best fails. Where computers fail us, processors die, monitors crash, but yet we still find the light at the end of the tunnel. Because tomorrow is a new day at remote work. And unless you’re tuning in on your baked laptop, you may as well count yourself as unemployed.

So please, ladies and gents, scroll through tech hell and back in this compilation of pics presented to us by the Tech Support Gore subreddit. No amount of eye rolls is gonna save us from the misery and sheer level of relatability for whatever happened there.

Psst! More painfully funny and cringe-worthy tech and gadget disasters are waiting in part 1 and part 2.

#1 Before And After. I Thought I Was 100% Prepared For Some Work I Got In A Remote Village Institution. Well This Was At Least What I Was Able To Achieve

Image credits: senorlusiola

#2 User Spilt Coffee On His Laptop – So He Put It In The Oven To Dry It Out

Image credits: smarthawk

#3 Printer From Hell

Image credits: UsablePizza

Bored Panda reached out to Redditor @smarthawk, who shared a picture of a toasted keyboard on r/techgore which amassed 10.4k upvotes. The caption said: “User spilled coffee on his laptop – so he put it in the oven to dry it out…” Turns out, @smarthawk has been working in IT support for the past 5 years, so he has seen a lot of cases like this.

“I think that they are accurate depictions of some of the things you run into in hardware support,” the IT support specialist told us when asked if pictures posted on r/techgore reflect the truth or are exaggerated. He added: “Some things are obviously more shocking than others.”

#4 “Can You Recover The Data?”

Image credits: Spore-Gasm

#5 I Am Not Proud Of This

Image credits: Josh_Your_IT_Guy

#6 User Said It Got Caught In The Subway Doors…

Image credits: ImKweeZy

On the other hand, “I think that the general population is definitely getting more comfortable using technology but, no matter how confident you are, there’s always moments where someone has a brainfart and breaks something,” @smarthawk said. In that sense, even if you’re very familiar with technology, faux pas still happen and your gadget may end up on the wall of r/techgore.

#7 No Money For A Rack? Don’t Worry! Use My Desk. I Don’t Need It Anyway. (Government Office)

Image credits: ktyre

#8 Instructions Unclear

Image credits: BananaBotlol

#9 Tired Of Losing Your Adapter?

Image credits: elchepibe

But when it comes to tech-savviness, the difference between generations is obvious. While many people of older generations still struggle to navigate in tech, gens like gen Z and gen X have already grown up with it, not knowing what it means not to have a smartphone.

In fact, a 2018 study by Pew Center showed that fully 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% say they are online ‘almost constantly.’ The same survey also found that there is no clear consensus among teens about the effect that social media has on the lives of young people today. Minorities of teens describe that effect as mostly positive (31%) or mostly negative (24%), but the largest share (45%) says that effect has been neither positive nor negative.

#10 My Gpu Finaly Fits In My Computer

Image credits: KrijgEten

#11 Visited Grandma And Confiscated This One

Image credits: klovaaxel1000

#12 User Claimed They Spilled A Small Glass Of Water On Their Laptop

Image credits: Drasnal

However, the situation is much different in the elder part of the population. Pew Research studies continue to show that, while internet access among those 65+ is inching up, among the oldest age cohorts, two-thirds of the 74+ population do not own a computer (laptop or desktop), and virtually none have a tablet computer or smartphone.

#13 My Team Took Over A Buildings It And Found Their Dumping Ground

Image credits: DR_FRIES

#14 Customers Spray-Painted MacBook Air

Image credits: MrPresident7777

#15 Chemicals vs. Computer

Image credits: xdr01

The gap in online access among the older seniors can be explained by keeping in mind the complex process for getting equipment and the service to acquire it. First, a senior must obtain both an internet service plan of some type and a relatively current computer that is fast enough to use with today’s graphics-rich websites.

Moreover, the computer must be configured with a user’s individual information; and someone must be available, especially early on, to provide training on the use of the device and support for questions about online tools. What makes it harder is that most technology innovation is targeted at youth, who virtually have no struggle implementing tech novelties in their daily life.

#16 Frontier Airlines: “75% Of Our Stuff Is Broken”

Image credits: rossmoney

#17 I Can’t Decide Whether To Be Pissed Off Or Impressed At The Fact That They Managed To Use Machine Screws In Drywall Without A Box Frame Or Ancors

Image credits: rileys888

#18 “Our Scanner Stopped Working And I Don’t How To Plug It Back In”

Image credits: Almightydirtyjake

While technology continues to seep into every aspect of our lives, many adults in the US remain divided about what impact it has on our lives. The Harris Poll showed that strong majorities believe that technology has improved the overall quality of their lives (71%) and encourages people to be more creative (68%).

However, strong majorities also believe technology is creating a lazy society (73%), has become too distracting (73%), is corrupting interpersonal communications (69%), and is having a negative impact on literacy (59%).

#19 At Least The Lobby Was Empty When It Happened…

Image credits: iRepairFox

#20 Work From Home Equipment Returned

Image credits: UaintNOgangsta

#21 Management’s Way Of Securing A Loose And Broken Power Brick

Image credits: RacistDiscoloredSoup

#22 There Was A Breakdown In Communications…

Image credits: bradley547

It should also be noted that just like in computer literacy, generations hold differing opinions when looking at any aspect of technology. Knowing that millennials are traditionally the most attuned to their tech devices, it comes as no surprise that this group is more likely to say technology has had a positive effect on nearly all aspects tested, like: ability to learn new skills (72% vs. 59% Gen Xers, 60% Baby Boomers & 56% Matures), relationships with friends (59% vs. 46%, 36% & 34%), and social life (57% & 42%, 30% & 29%).

The main exception is productivity. The poll showed that millennials are more likely than all other generations to say technology has had a negative effect on their productivity both at home (32% vs. 21% Gen Xers, 20% Baby Boomers & 14% Matures) and at work (14% vs. 8%, 3% & 2%).

#23 My Friend Wanted Me To Post This Here – Here’s My Rpi 1b

Image credits: Mystery5Me

#24 Mag”safe”’

Image credits: chicoquadcore

#25 New House Find, Do You Think It’ll Play Crysis? It Doesn’t Seem To Have Any Problems Playing Rust.

Image credits: Megaladon27

#26 Sorry But Wtf Is This

Image credits: rextnzld

#27 I Try To Do The Right Thing, But My Family Is A Bunch Of Savages!

Image credits: RMartin1

Despite many concerns, it’s clear Americans still have a hard time unplugging. When faced with a list of technological devices and general life staples and asked how long they could live without each, majorities of Americans indicate that they could make it a week or less without Internet access (67%), a computer/laptop (60%), mobile phone (59%), or television (55%), with over two in ten going so far as to state that they simply could not live without them (27%, 22%, 26% and 21%, respectively).

#28 Needle. Haystack.

Image credits: HumptysRevenge

#29 Clientr: Hi, I Have This PC That Makes Noise And Slowly Walks Or Shut Off Alone. In The Way, Could You Clean It? Me: ._.

Image credits: EDD1E1422

#30 How Is That Possible?

Image credits: Affectionate_Ad_7571

#31 Keyboard Keys Come Off? Don’t Worry, Just Superglue Them Back On!

Image credits: Domby88

#32 Say Hello To Big Bertha, A 1.69 Tb Text File. Over 108 Billion Lines

Image credits: XandrowH

#33 “Of Course I Put The Toner Cartridge The Right Way In!”…

Image credits: DaMichu

#34 An Internet Provider Pulled Fiber To Every Home In My Neighbourhood Almost A Year Ago. They Never Finished The Connections

Image credits: Muffer-Nl

#35 Why Choosing The Cheapest Shipping Option Might Not Be Such A Great Idea.

Image credits: YTAppleDemo

#36 The Plug From A Pinball Machine I’m Refurbishing.

Image credits: tank_the_boss

#37 Remember Kids…don’t Buy Msi Laptops

Image credits: angelbs23

#38 Pre-Built Office PC Safely Delivered

Image credits: m_bilal93

#39 Spotted The Baby Monitor Back Panel Was Cracked…think I’ve Found The Cause.

Image credits: Smeeble09

#40 I Guess She Wanted Wireless Keyboards…

Image credits: aurora_sky310

#41 I Think Its Enough Thermal Paste

Image credits: Undercoverdog___

#42 Show Up To Replace A Desktop And The User Tells Me The Mouse Hasn’t Worked Right In Months…

Image credits: subject606

#43 What In The Name Of F***

Image credits: Undercoverdog___

#44 Smile You Have WiFi

Image credits: donzi79

#45 3ds Charger Died, Decided To Replace It With A USB-C Conector But With The Battery Wasn’t Fitting Well, So…

Image credits: Klairm

#46 My Friend Put Breadcrumbs On Purpose On His MacBook In Order To Enlist To A Free Keyboard Replacement Program

Image credits: wowi678

#47 Changing These Out Of A UPS Felt More Like Defusing A Bomb

Image credits: boumbah

#48 33 Kilograms Of Apple Pencils That Got Snapped In Half

Image credits: YTAppleDemo

#49 “Our Classroom Network Port Isn’t Connecting To My Laptop”

Image credits: confusedgentleman97

#50 New Client Turned One Of Their Bathrooms Into A Server Closet Lol

Image credits: Agzraider15

#51 Just Some Ipads With Holes Drilled Into Them, As Apparently Some People Don’t Know How To Wipe A Device In Itunes To Remove Data.

Image credits: YTAppleDemo

#52 “Ran The Cable, Anchored To The Wall For Tightness” My Friend Who’s Gonna Drop Some Packets Soon

Image credits: longy18

#53 Stelf 100

Image credits: ChineseBoat69

#54 Caught A Glimpse Of A Lovely Looking Cable Job

Image credits: basedrifter

#55 I’ve Paid For The Whole Tube Of Thermal Paste, I’m Gonna Use The Whole Tube Of Thermal Paste

Image credits: Fried_dwarf

#56 Taking 5 Year Old Ssds Out Of 8 Year Old Laptops To Make Some 10 Year Old Desktops Less S**t

Image credits: the123king-reddit

#57 This Atrocitie I Spotted At Work Trying To Improve The WiFi Signal

Image credits: Moistwee

Source: boredpanda.com