Tribune's Computer Woes
By Margaret Lyons in News on Jul 19, 2004 2:22PM
Yow. We thought we got off track without our computers, but we bet there were a few full-on freakfests last night at the Trib offices. The Trib website apologizes:
TO OUR CUSTOMERS
The production of Monday's print edition of the Chicago Tribune was delayed significantly because of an extended computer system failure Sunday night.
Many subscribers therefore will not receive their Monday newspaper until as late as Tuesday morning. And the content of Monday's edition was reduced.
The Tribune deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to our customers. Timely, reliable service is a top priority. On-schedule delivery will resume Tuesday, and all Monday subscribers and advertisers will receive credit for the curtailed edition.
According to reports, a software upgrade seemed to be working until Tribsters tried to print the paper. Suckas. Five-and-a-half hours later and 24 pages shorter, systems got back on track. We're not sure if everyone else completely understands how newspapers get printed, but we're imagining something like Santa's workshop screeching to a halt. And all the elves, who are wearing fedoras with press passes slipped into the bands, are freaking out, and fire alarms are squealing, and huge machinery like the pot-pie maker in Chicken Run are belching out messed up issues. Is that not how newspapers work? Are there not elves in those buildings by the river? No?
We werent sure that wed notice the changes, really (maybe they cut the content from the business section?), but the very first article we turned to was cut off. Yesterdays article about Rayola Victoria Carwell, a third-grader who switched schools under the No Child Left Behind act, was gripping, and we were looking forward to a full update. Sigh.