#7 technology

Well, erm, yes, we have come a long way with technology. I am constantly reminded of this by my nieces and nephews. We pulled out a box of old toys for them, and there were two things that puzzled them - a typewriter, and a toy dial phone (the kind that has the actual dial that you run your finger around). They had no clue what either of these things were!

I remember when my mum's Commodore 64 was cutting edge, and oh what fun my brother and I had playing games from cassettes and cartridges! I don't think the games these days compare. Fancy graphics and surround sound don't compensate for sheer addictive gameplay. My husband would disagree - he loves high tech games, and we just bought a new computer to keep up with the new games being released, no other reason. It's the gamers that push computer technology further and further along now. Computers have been able to cope with the needs of your average business for a long time. It's the gamers that want them always faster, brighter, higher res, etc.

I guess I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love surfing the net, getting any questions I have answered immediately. I love ebay. I love email, since I have a lot of loved ones interstate and overseas. I guess what I don't like is that sometimes computers overcomplicate things. They can do lots of fancy stuff that I personally have no use for, but can never seem to perform simple word processing tasks the way I want them to, for example.

Should I be whingeing about computers during this exercise? Probably not. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, I use them every day, but I don't think my life would fall apart without them. Well, in the library it probably would, (love those offline days!). That's the downside of relying on computers - when they break down, so do a lot of people. I used to be an AV technician for corporate events. Some days that involved editing a LOT of powerpoint presentations. It never failed to amaze me that if someone's powerpoint was not working (for whatever reason) - they could not present. They were so reliant on their computer slides, that without them they could not speak, even if they were an expert on the subject. That is just plain wrong, to my way of thinking. Most of these people would also talk to the screen, rather than the audience.

I could also totally live without my mobile phone. I only got one at my husband's behest, And it's mainly a way for people to keep tabs on me. I can (and do) live without a fancy home theatre system - I would be happy with an old Rank Arena, as long as I could still watch House.