A blonde woman calls a computer technician, completely frustrated.
“My computer isn’t working!” she exclaims. “It just keeps showing me a picture of a window with a green field and a blue sky! I’ve tried everything!”
The technician, trying to remain patient, asks, “Ma’am, can you tell me what you see on the screen right now?”
“It’s a window!” she insists. “A big, beautiful window with green grass and a sunny sky! But I can’t do anything with it!”
The technician pauses, then asks, “Ma’am, is there a little button that says ‘Start’ anywhere on the screen?”
The woman thinks for a moment. “Hmm, no, I don’t see a ‘Start’ button. But wait! There’s a little button that says ‘Windows’!”
The technician sighs. “Yes, ma’am, that’s the one. Can you click on that?”
The woman clicks. “Oh! Now I see a bunch of little icons! And a desktop! It’s working! Thank you so much!”
The technician shakes his head. “You’re welcome, ma’am. Just remember to click the ‘Windows’ button to get to your desktop.”
A few minutes later, the phone rings again. It’s the same woman.
“My computer is broken again!” she cries. “Now it’s showing me a picture of a beautiful beach with palm trees and blue water! I can’t do anything!”
The technician takes a deep breath. “Ma’am, that’s your screensaver. Just move your mouse.”
The woman gasps. “Oh! It moved! And now it’s back to the window! You’re a genius! But why does it keep changing the picture? I just want my computer to work!”
The technician rubs his temples. “Ma’am, it’s designed to do that. It’s called a screensaver.”
“A screensaver?” she asks. “So, it saves the screen? From what?”
The technician pauses, then says, “From boredom, ma’am. It saves it from boredom.”