Technophobic Tendencies

When I first learned the computer and was taking my first tentative steps into the cyber world, I admit that I was nervous. I was afraid that if I hit the wrong key, I would surely break something. I avoided anything that said download or attachment anywhere on the screen. I had heard so many stories about viruses I chose to exercise caution to a fault.

My first year or so of being on line found me limiting myself to e-mail, IMing my sister, a few on-line games, and fantasy sports. I had worked with computers for many years at the work place. During that period, I was considered computer savvy. This took place before the internet as we know it today. PCs were a new technology just beginning to show up on the desks in offices. They were still a long way from becoming affordable and practical in the private home.

You were a valuable employ if you knew Lotus and Word Perfect. I was proficient in Base and was in the process of learning SQL when I made my career change. From July of 1992 until September of 1997, I had no direct contact whatsoever with a computer. The software and hardware that were introduced during that period left me behind in a cloud of dust.

It wasn't until my daughter bought a PC that the computer reentered my life. It was deja vu , just as she programmed the VCR, she became the computer instructor to both me and my wife. In the end, she created two monsters. We actually used to fight over computer time! Almost overnight, the computer replaced the television as the center of information as well as the source of entertainment in our lives.

This picture, which I harvested from Kenju some time ago, kind of says it all. At the present time we have two computers. We ran the gamut from dial-up to DSL to High Speed connections, and now the two of us are firmly entrenched techophiles.

Then in January of 2004, I took the leap of faith and dared to tread the waters of blogging. I laugh now at those early walking-on-thin-ice days. In fact the picture at the top of this post might have actually helped me back then to understand the interface of all the equipment. I didn't have to teach myself to be silly or funny, that came naturally. I did have to learn some HTML and still have a lot more to learn.

One thing I do know now, if I hit the wrong key, nothing will break and the computer will not explode into a million pieces. (I stole this picture from Jules just yesterday.)

I have learned that most of the times when something goes wrong, it's the computer's fault! I would never type in a wrong password. I would never misspell a word. I am not prone to typos. Things only go wrong when the computer acts up and goes bonkers.

As an aside, I am jumping off onto another tangent. I was watching a special about Italian-made automobiles. After seeing Masserattis and Lambourghinis, I realized that the only thing I own that goes from 0 to 200 that fast is my bathroom scale!
....Not that I could afford to buy either one anyway, but the economy is so bad that even hot cakes are no longer selling like hotcakes!

Here again I'll blame the computer - it's eBay's fault!

No.547