Am I an Old Fart, Technologically Speaking? Part I

Sometimes I feel that I am really behind the times when it comes to technology, the internet and computers, etc. It could be that I am just a cheapskate or that I am stubborn and set in my ways. I am not the type of person who runs out and buys the latest technology as soon as it drops on the market. It is better to watch and wait and see what other consumers and people in the know have to say about new products and technology. I want to know about any bugs in the system and all the pros and cons, before parting with my hard earned money. Another thing, is that I usually don’t buy new technology until I have a real need for it. In most cases I won’t spend money on big ticket items unless I don’t own something to begin with or I am replacing a broken item.

My first real taste of computers came when I was in elementary school, in the 1980s. At that time, those big ole’ humpty-dumpty style PCs were out on the market. You can still get a glimpse of the large CRT monitors and consoles with floppy disk drives still in use today. Windows Operating systems and user-friendly icons were not the norm. PCs in the public school systems were mostly run off the MS-DOS operating systems. Therefore, computers were very intimidating to me, because if you wanted learn how to use a computer, you had to understand a myriad of stupid commands and the binary system. I think that this somehow traumatized me and made me somewhat fearful and skeptical of changes with technology.

I didn’t learn about Microsoft Office until I was well into my twenties and taking courses at a local university. I think this was around 1998. I was taking a statistics course and was compelled to learn about MS Excel spreadsheets. I had to learn it to get through the course. When I began taking several writing courses I had to quickly learn about word processing software like MS Word. Most of the university professors would not accept handwritten research papers and writing assignments. Learning about all this new technology was like baptism by fire because I had to learn it within a very short amount of time. This was challenging because I had to keep up with several course studies and hold down a full time job. This learning experience actually ended up as a major benefit to me over the long run. So, I am not whining.

Also, I had no idea what e-mail was until I subscribed to AOL internet service around the year 2000. I had just purchased my first humpty-dumpty style PC at a computer show. To further emphasize how slow I was with computers, it took me about two years to buy my first computer. This was after going to the library and researching online about computers and reading “Dummies” and “Idiots” books regarding computers and the internet. Plus, a very technology savvy co-worker of mine accompanied me as I shopped for my first PC at a computer show. Since my first PC purchase, I have bought two Toshiba Satellite Laptops.

I did not purchase my first cell phone until 1998. The only reason that I did this is because the old hooptie car that I was driving back then, broke down as I was driving on the Florida turnpike. If it weren’t for a very kind Florida State Trooper giving me a ride to a payphone, I would have been stuck on the turnpike for God knows how long.

So, that day, I ran out to Office Depot and purchased a Prime Co Audiovox cellphone. It was a very basic phone by today’s standards and only allowed me the ability to text and voice service. I used this phone until I upgraded to a cute little Pantech C3, with AT&T wireless service in 2006 (big mistake). I rarely text messaged anyone while I owned the Audiovox cellphone and only used it for emergency situations. At the present, I use an LG Optimus Android smartphone. This is my first Android smartphone and it suits my needs for the time being and I am very satisfied with it.

This concludes the discussion about technology. I will share further experiences about my reluctance to espouse new products in future blog posts.

　

Copyright 2012 www.thewhimsicalmusingsofsusan.com