[FanIn80]

Here's a real-life example. A few years ago, I was on vacation (didn't go anywhere, just took a week off) and received an email from someone at an office I was looking after. This email was sent on behalf of someone else, because "their email wasn't working." This someone else happened to be a pretty central figure in the company, so it was something I needed to look into.

I spent an hour trying to figure out why their email wasn't working while everyone else's was. They had left for a lunch meeting and expected it to be worked on in their absence, so I'm going through Active Directory properties, Exchange mail box properties, group permissions, policies, you name it.

Finally, I had no other option but to drive all the way in to their office in the middle of my vacation to see what was wrong, only to discover within three seconds of being there, that their keyboard batteries were dead.

Now, imagine this scenario instead...

Hey, Person X just asked me to email you to say they can't type anything. They're pressing the keyboard, but nothing's happening.

Oh, can you check if there's a green light on the keyboard?

I don't see one...

Ok no worries. Just tell him to change the batteries.

There is an entire universe of difference between, "I press keys on my keyboard, but nothing happens." and, "My email isn't working."