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Frame from .: - Little Britain - Computer says no - :. Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

.: - Little Britain - Computer says no - :.

memoriewhisperer
Comedy
YouTube
Cited on HN 8 times, 2018–2024, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN uses it as a joke reference whenever software or algorithms rigidly deny people with no recourse.

A Little Britain sketch featuring the 'Computer says no' catchphrase, in which a clerk refuses requests by deferring to her computer.

1 citations · 7 jokes · Comedy

8 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@jjawssd Jan 2018 Makes a joke
on HN thread Can Washington Be Automated?
> Automation can reduce transparency, by moving open discussions and reasoning into obscure, sometimes proprietary computer code. [this video]
@lvturner Aug 2020 Makes a joke
on HN thread Ever wonder what your dog is thinking?
People, presently seem much less willing to challenge what a computer says however. I'm wondering if Little Britain's "computer says no"[1] sketch is somewhat foreshadowing here. It's certainly a situation I've ran in to in several banks (globally). [1] [this video]
@romwell Aug 2021 Makes a joke
on HN thread Sentenced by Algorithm
"Something resembling fair", i.e. unfair? We already have that. Not that the idea of codifying fairness is new; a certain guy named Hammurabi started the trend a while ago. The result of humanity's collective attempt to create a Transparent Fairness Flowchart still leaves much to be desired. Replacing codex with code, will, however, streamline the process by entirely removing (the already meager) accountability for bad decisions, as well making it effectively impossible to correct them: "Computer says no" [1] [1] [this video]
@andsoitis Sep 2022 Makes a joke
on HN thread AirPods Pro Service Program for Sound Issues
Read more
My experience of the Service Program has been very poor. One of my AirPods Pro has an annoying tick. It's like a metronome (regular) and orthogonal to the music I'm listening to. I've taken it to the Apple Store, but instead of the service rep putting it in their ear to confirm the issue, they use some machine that checks and, in my case, "computer says no!" to my complaint. [this video] The rubber around the ear insert is changeable, so it wouldn't be unhygienic for them to listen directly. Their refusal at an exchange has caused me to eschew trusting them for the new AirPods, and instead I've moved on to another brand.
@pixl97 Jan 2024 Makes a joke
on HN thread Your last name contains invalid characters (2010)
>A human can think outside the box in a way a `strcmp` can't. Computer says no [this video] --- A human can do many things, but never underestimate the power of the system (Hello Moloch) to remove said creative abilities from humans. Also never underestimate how creatively stupid humans can be.

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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