computeritis

computeritis

English

Etymology

computer +‎ -itis

Noun

computeritis (uncountable)

1. (informal, humorous) Any ailment relating to or caused by computers, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. (informal, humorous) The mistaken belief that computers are the answer to every problem.
   • 1966, Management Services (volume 3, page 43)

     The sheer volume of detail involved in keypunching and verifying or batch totaling comes as a shock to executives infected with "computeritis" who see only the impressive, instantaneous response at the airline ticket counter.

   • 1981, Betty Friedan, The Second Stage, page 263:

     […] waiting impatiently for eager Joe Beaver to take his year's paternity leave to counteract that rigid, number-bound computeritis he got along with his MBA.

   • 2004, J. L. Berggren, Jonathan M. Borwein, Peter Borwein, Pi: A Source Book (page 408)

     The existence of such problems [that cannot be solved by computations alone] ought to furnish at least a partial antidote to the disease of computeritis, which seems so rampant today.