"This is Unix, It's Easy"

Usability guru Jakob Nielsen offers an amusing take on the movie industry's 10 most egregious UI bloopers. You've seen them in film after film: the hero walks up to a completely strange (or even alien) computer console and, after guessing the password in 3 tries (the screen flashes "Access Granted" in overlarge characters), masters a complex user interface within seconds. In particular, Nielsen singles out one of the all-time great LOL moments for techies:

In the film Jurassic Park, a 12-year-old girl has to use the park's security system to keep everyone from being eaten by dinosaurs. She walks up to the control terminal and utters the immortal words, "This is a Unix system. I know this." And proceeds to (temporarily) save the day.

He also observes:

Films are littered with so many other unrealistic plot details: you'd imagine, for example, that the ability to shoot straight might actually be a primary job requirement of Imperial Stormtroopers.

Yes, it's just entertainment, Nielsen should just lighten up, etc. etc. But his actual point is how unrealistic depiction of technology in TV and films creates expecatations on the part of end-users, and whets the public's appetite for user interfaces that look dramatic and cool, but are not all that practical.