Why The Office Fans Are Puzzled By Darryl's Tech-Saviness

Of the many recurring characters on "The Office," Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) may not be the first one that comes to mind. After all, the show is called "The Office," and Darryl is no desk jockey. However, his job as foreman of Dunder Mifflin's shipping department means that Darryl often gets wrapped up in the various schemes created by Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his other employees. For instance, he spends a large chunk of Seasons 4 and 5 dating Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) as part of her ploy to make Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) jealous.

As he's normally somewhat straightforward regarding his job, the fact that Darryl takes his work seriously makes him an effective foil to everyone else's (especially Michael's) antics at times. Even so, there are many occasions where he displays his own level of absurdity. For instance, there have been some inconsistencies over the course of the series when it comes to Darryl's technological know-how. Because of that, "The Office" fans are puzzled by his level of tech-saviness.

Fans first picked up on Darryl's inconsistent grasp on tech in May, when Reddit user u/urfavefilipina posted a comparison of two scenes on the r/DunderMifflin subreddit. As the Redditor points out, in the Season 4 episode, "Money," Kelly invites Darryl to one of the office's meetings in a ploy to make Ryan jealous. The point of the meeting is for Michael to create a PowerPoint on how to use PowerPoint. When the meeting devolves into chaos, Ryan (who is now Michael's boss) sends Darryl away, telling him "you don't need this information," to which Darryl agrees.

At the time, it seemed as though Darryl could already use the program. However, later on, in the Season 9 episode, "Work Bus," Darryl asks Clark Green (Clark Duke) to teach him how to use PowerPoint. From these scenes, fans have become confused as to how tech-savvy Darryl truly is. Some fans, such as u/MickeyMoist, said he "struggles with technology," while referencing Darryl's line about missing Clippy (an old assistant program that used to be on Microsoft Office software) from Season 7's "Search Committee."

U/TheGints, however, observed that he at least becomes more capable as the series goes on, recalling how Darryl manages to link an iPad to a bus TV via Bluetooth in one episode. Regardless, it's no surprise why Darryl isn't the most tech-savvy of the group. As foreman of the shipping division, his forte is pallets and trucks, not programming and technology.