As someone who has done it, there is a lot of truth in the cartoon. 

I agree. In the accountants office I used to work in staff would sometimes ask for my help if they had computer problems. A couple of trainee accountants came to my office one afternoon saying that they had been trying to print something off their computer and nothing happened. They had been trying to get it to work for an hour before they came to see me.

I went with them to their office and said to them as soon as I entered "It would help if you swtiched the power on at the electic socket on the wall"

I too have had a very similar experience, in my case it was a monitor. I said to them that the problem is a lack of electrons, flicked the power switch, saw the monitor burst into life and then left the room.