Boy, was I mistaken. Even though I impressed the folks at the Apple store by knowing the note that chimes when you start up a Mac is G minor, the improvements that had been made to their computers in the past thirteen years boggled my mind. But I brought the 21st century version of Mac home, fired it up and began importing my files from the old boy to the new. That's when the trouble began.
I won't bore you with details. Let's just say I have the Apple technical support team on speed dial. We're becoming great friends. I wonder, in the course of our conversations, how many times they roll their eyes at my inane questions.
I'll get it--eventually. I'll be able to retire the old boy to the closet in a fitting ceremony, remembering all the stories we created together, raising glasses of champagne as he exits the position he's held for years, front and center on my desk. The new boy, all sleek and shiny, with a retina display and memory to spare, will start behaving himself and become my friend. The Apple people themselves say "Sometimes to take a major step forward, you have to completely change direction." So, I took them at their word, and plunged myself, and my work, into this decade. We're still a work in process.
But, in my moments of frustration this past week, I wonder--Did I take a giant step forward or two steps back?
When my old laptop's foibles became intolerable I tried to minimize the tech-shock for the new laptop. I did online research, asked advice from everybody, I even tried one out. For me, new technology is like walking through my living room in the dark when someone has rearranged the furniture. I finally wobbled to a decision. I unboxed my prize as if it might contain explosives. "Well, going from Vista to Windows 7 shouldn't be so bad." I thought, and called my IT guy to transfer my files, etc. He returned it and proudly told me that while he was at it he updated my Microsoft Office and Microsoft OneNote 2003 to 2007 and my Explorer 6 to Explorer 10! I didn't know what to say. Humans took thousands of years to adapt from hunter/gatherers to an agrarian society. Why I was born into a time when humanity's learning curve resembles a rocket trajectory is a question I ask myself every time Yahoo decides to "improve" my email experience. Or maybe taming our tech-toys is just the 21 century version of the noesis needed when early man took a trip into the bushes to relieve himself.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain, DM! I love the analogy of walking through the LR in the dark when someone rearranged the furniture. That's me, right now. I'll get there, tho.
ReplyDeleteI love technology (when it works) but I definitely have a love/hate relationship with getting a new computer. I love that new computers are faster, and have cool themes and stuff like that. But I hate the time that it takes to get a new system up and running the way the old one was. Every time I do it, I think there has to be a better way!
ReplyDeleteMy old boy computer is on its last leg. I have a new laptop (that I'm still trying to figure out) but the thought of two new computers in the same six months makes me want to fling myself down the stairs. I'm so nervous about the old one, though. I just might have to take the plunge (or the stairs). Good luck, everyone.
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