[codetrotter]

> the supposed tendency of technical equipment to encounter critical failure in the presence of certain people

Is there an inverse of this?

Often times, people ask me to help them do something on the computer or with other computer related or electronic things. I walk over, touch the equipment without actually doing anything and their problem is instantly solved. Could be a printer that won’t print, even!

I don’t see any links in the See Also section about any “effect” like this.

[Moru]

That would be "Demonstration Effect" or "IT Support Effect". Happens every other support call.

I bet this is why half the older companies still have a tech person on staff. :-)