Probably the most famous among them (and not a fake!) is #21 - No keyboard detected, hit F1 to continue. It has been there since the good old days of DOS.
I laughed at it many times, until the day I bought new tires for my car: The machine used for balancing the wheels were controlled by a PC, which when booted up displayed this message on that large screen in that oil-smelling, greasy workshop. And the guy hit the huge, green square labeled F1, covering half of the screen, with his gloved fist. The PC had no keyboard; its (only) program was controlled through that touch sensitive screen. Those heavy, protective gloves made it impossible to use an ordinary keyboard (without pressing three keys at at time). Also, a keyboard would probably have been clogged up with dirt within a few weeks, stopping it from working. (The touch sensitive screen was sealed in transparent, soft plastic foil.)
So, while most of these messages are fake, #21 is not only real but even sensible (as long as you can imagine computers in other environments than on an office desktop).
Probably the most famous among them (and not a fake!) is #21 - No keyboard detected, hit F1 to continue. It has been there since the good old days of DOS.
I laughed at it many times, until the day I bought new tires for my car: The machine used for balancing the wheels were controlled by a PC, which when booted up displayed this message on that large screen in that oil-smelling, greasy workshop. And the guy hit the huge, green square labeled F1, covering half of the screen, with his gloved fist. The PC had no keyboard; its (only) program was controlled through that touch sensitive screen. Those heavy, protective gloves made it impossible to use an ordinary keyboard (without pressing three keys at at time). Also, a keyboard would probably have been clogged up with dirt within a few weeks, stopping it from working. (The touch sensitive screen was sealed in transparent, soft plastic foil.)
So, while most of these messages are fake, #21 is not only real but even sensible (as long as you can imagine computers in other environments than on an office desktop).
But yeah, most are fake.
I laughed at it many times, until the day I bought new tires for my car: The machine used for balancing the wheels were controlled by a PC, which when booted up displayed this message on that large screen in that oil-smelling, greasy workshop. And the guy hit the huge, green square labeled F1, covering half of the screen, with his gloved fist. The PC had no keyboard; its (only) program was controlled through that touch sensitive screen. Those heavy, protective gloves made it impossible to use an ordinary keyboard (without pressing three keys at at time). Also, a keyboard would probably have been clogged up with dirt within a few weeks, stopping it from working. (The touch sensitive screen was sealed in transparent, soft plastic foil.)
So, while most of these messages are fake, #21 is not only real but even sensible (as long as you can imagine computers in other environments than on an office desktop).