Taking the stress level caused by updated technology into account, I try to limit how many new things I tackle at once. Having figured out the essentials to my Kindle, I edged into the modern world by taking my friend’s advice and trading my dumb phone for an iPhone. [Advice is a polite term for her form of insistence, but I could see she was probably right.] Then my plan went haywire. Before I could figure out the phone, my TV went on the blink, and my computer began to decide which days it wanted to work and which days it didn’t. I found myself on overload and almost ready to return to the days of reading a good book by candlelight.
Progress report:
• The Kindle and I are getting along fine. Nicely loaded with books, some of them ARCS (advance reading copies from publishers), a long trip’s reading stash will fit into my purse. I still prefer books printed on paper with page numbers at the bottom, but the Kindle is like a good friend to hang with when my best friend is unavailable.
• The iPhone and I are still getting acquainted. My sources say this could go on for a long time. I went to the training session offered for new iPhone users and found everybody there had gray hair or none at all. I’m liking the map system that tells me step-by-step how to get to my destination, and I love being able to get my email and Facebook messages from anywhere. I think in time, the iPhone and I will be really good friends.
• It took two trips for Comcast to get my TV straightened out. I think there were some dire threats pronounced on it by the last technician, but it is currently doing fine. The college football games and NCIS come in clearly. I loved the rout of Texas by the Ole Miss Rebels – beautiful picture, wonderful sound!
• As for the computer, we are still contentious. I had it worked on by a local computer repair place. It no longer freezes every time I click on a link, but it’s still slow and temperamental. My son-in-law, AKA He-Who-Knows-All-Things-About-Computers, says it has aged and probably needs to be replaced. Old? I have grandchildren, friends, kitchen appliances, and shoes older than the computer, and they are still working fine. He also said to wait a while before replacing it until they make ease of use adjustments to the new Windows 8. He didn’t say “for people like you who are computer dummies,” but I got the picture.
I find myself unable to return to good books by candlelight. I’d miss immediate communication with my friends and family, the place to store and rework every version of my writings, posting my blog, the start of the new NCIS season, watching for the Ole Miss Rebels to take this 3 – 0 start, the first since 1989, to the next level . . .
I know way more than I want to know about technology and way less than I need to, but I think it’s here to stay. I’ll just count to ten – or more – when I need to deal with the taunting.