It is no secret, I am technologically challenged. I have to call a teenager when I have a computer question. I never was the most prolific student at the typewriter, but I am grateful that I took a class, back in the dark ages, before they changed the name to “keyboarding.”
It helped me learn the proper finger positions so that I don’t hunt and peck like kids today, although they are extremely fast with their two fingers. Maybe the fact that I use all mine will help me ward off the impending doom arthritis is determined to cause.
I have my daddy’s old typewriter on my bedside table along with a copy of “To Kill A Mockingbird” and a picture of my beloved and me when we were in our 20’s. The laptop lives in the chair that I no longer sit in to write. I write from my bed most of the time, or the couch, or the tree house in the back yard.
I have come to love the term: wireless. Having a laptop means you don’t have to be plugged in to the wall or bound to a home computer to do research or anything. Of course, my daddy’s typewriter is wireless, maybe his generation was more avant-garde than we give them credit for. Of course, he couldn’t connect to a thousand of his closest friends at any given time, but, he would never have wanted to anyway. I love the social aspect of technology. He would have considered that all a tremendous invasion of privacy.
I suppose technology IS a tremendous invasion of privacy. But, for the most part I don’t mind. If my Facebook posts are too personal, a teenager will tell me … usually with, “Mom, T.M.I.” translation for non-techies: Too Much Information. This usually refers to anything sweet I say about their father.
I recently got an iPhone. It was a gift from the above mentioned sweet man I talk too much about. I couldn’t figure it out at first, was totally clumsy on the tiny keyboard, couldn’t read the screen and figured out what all the hoopla is about not texting and driving. I got a quick course from a very helpful sales person in the Verizon store and the rest I’ve picked up as I go. I have been very impressed by the perk on the iPhone called “Siri.”
“Siri” reminds me of the “Knight Rider” car. I’m not kidding. I can ask Siri anything and she’ll give me an answer. I ask her if I need an umbrella and she tells me the weather. I ask her the number of “Jim Bobs” and she asks me which one I want to call. I ask her about movie times and she usually tells me she doesn’t know. Oh well, you can’t expect miracles from technology when you are challenged.