Let's take a look at the current state of the software industry. It seems like big companies, such as Microsoft are thriving under this technological boom. Computers, indeed, have come a long way since their old counterparts in the late 1970's and the software right along with them.
Now-a-days people flick a switch (some not even that, just pressing the space bar) and their personal computers come to life. Flashy logos and trademarked names adorn the monitor as the user waits for his or her operating system to bootstrap itself. After an interminable wait, and the abatement of crunching sounds, mystically emanating from a small box next to them, the user is ready to carry on their intended function with this modern day swiss army knife.
The user then proceeds to read his email, browse the world wide web, and download his favourite song. He orders a pizza, makes flight reservations, pays his bills, and even makes a quick free telephone call using this tool. He never leaves his desk; never talks to anyone; and it is all seamlessly integrated. Everything is going fine, until, for some unknown reason, he gets a message from this tool stating that it has done an illegal instruction.
The user simply confirms the dialog. And if he is lucky, can ask the tool to re-boot itself to correct this so called error. If he is not so fortunate, the user must press the reset button, and in some cases remove the battery from his portable tool, for this computer has locked up.