This article was originally published in the South Ponte Vedra Civic Association newsletter on 12/1/2021.
How many times have I heard this? “My daughter bought me a computer but I don’t know how to use it.” A lot.
How many times have I heard this? “My son bought me a tablet but I don’t know how to use it.” Less than a lot. But I still hear it plenty.
How many times have I heard this? “I need to learn how to use my computer/tablet.” A lot. Why? Don’t we tend to do what we NEED to do, out of pure need? Or do we just use that word as a show of good faith? What do we really need?
I needed portability. Almost all of my work happens on a computer. My spine cannot handle that much time at a desk. Also, my family life included a lot of travel. I couldn’t always abandon my work.
I bought a laptop in the early 90s. It served me well, but carrying it took toll on my shoulder. In my teaching years, my computer-toting shoulder mimicked heart attack symptoms. I had to go smaller.
I bought an iPad soon after they came out. I bought a keyboard case for it. I tried to work on it. It was fabulous for reading and writing. But for my research database, forget it. Design graphics and CAD? Ugh. Run more than one program at a time? Not. I needed a powerful processor and warehouse-sized memory. I needed a computer. Or another profession.
In 2016, I got the best of both worlds. Hewlett Packard rolled out a hybrid laptop/tablet. I paid nearly $2000 for the freedom to work as fast as my brain could carry me, in any location my spine could hold me upright. It was like a life-changing surgery, for a fraction of the cost.
Do you need all that? I doubt it. Do you need to move data between programs and point and click and drag with precision at high speed, all on a computer that can run the internet plus multiple major programs simultaneously? I doubt it.
If you are reading this, chances are, you only use a computer to read. These days, information flows faster than the newspaper man. Communication flows faster than the mailman. In fact, most communications don’t even bother to travel on paper anymore.
You can still read a book on paper, thank God. You can still look up words in the dictionary. You can still get the news in print, for now. And boy is it a treat to find a handwritten note from a friend in the mailbox.
But what if your eyes hurt and you want the book to read out loud to you? What if Webster doesn’t know what “Covid booster” means? What if your niece has a LOT of thoughts to share with you, but she only speaks email? Are these the moments when people say, “I need to learn how to use my computer.”? But if you think it is too darn complicated, you are correct. Computers are built for computing. Reading and corresponding are tiny tools in a behemoth machine.
Here is my line of demarcation: If you want to read and write, use a tablet. If you want to create and calculate, use a laptop. If you’re ready to go off the grid, get all those electronics out of the house. That way, they won’t keep tricking you into thinking you NEED to do something with them.