Sneak has heard a lot in his daily travels about the increasing IT savviness of the workforce. Raised on a diet of Google and Amazon and the world wide web, worker drones these days have a much better grasp of technology than their parents ever did. Which is probably true, but according to support desk software vendor Sunrise, the stupidity of the human race really does know no bounds.

Top on its list of most ridiculous requests placed to a helpdesk over the last year include the receptionist in a London telco who asked IT if they could de-scale her kettle. Or possibly the senior actuarial consultant who asked his IT manager to arrange for the orbit of a satellite to be altered so that he could get a better mobile phone reception on his journey home. Sunrise chairman Tom Weston said, "IT support is a skilled job, but this league table shows it’s as much about people skills and time management as technology." You ain't wrong Tom.

13 May 2008