Original artwork, not a still
PC Load Letter - what the fuck does that mean?
— Office Space · 1999
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The joke is that the error message is real, and it really is that unhelpful. It comes from older HP LaserJets (PC meant paper cassette, and the printer simply wanted Letter-size paper), so the line stands for every cryptic error that tells you nothing. IT people and anyone who has fought an office printer still use it as shorthand, and it has become the name of an entire genre of vague technology complaints.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Office SpaceShow the scene
In Mike Judge's Office Space (1999), Michael Bolton, a programmer at the dreary software company Initech, is fighting the office's temperamental printer when it throws up the error message PC LOAD LETTER. He reads it out in confusion and asks what on earth it means. The machine keeps failing, and the three programmers, Michael, Peter and Samir, are so fed up with it that on Michael and Samir's last day Peter steals the printer. They take it to a field and beat it to pieces in slow motion in a scene that has been parodied ever since.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: Office SpaceMichael Bolton sectionReference checked
- Wikipedia: Office SpacePlot and In cultureReference checked
- Wikipedia: PC LOAD LETTERLead and MessageReference checked
Context reviewed
