Essays & Articles
You'll only need one computer!
I realized it was time to get a new laptop after I
downloaded the trial version of Word 2007 and discovered that inserting
a picture in a document caused my dated Inspiron 8100 to freeze
hopelessly. Of course, I should have figured I needed a
replacement when the hinges holding the monitor to the body cracked,
forcing me to leave the laptop open at all times, for fear it would fall
completely apart should I try moving it around. Which of course, rather
defeats the purpose of having a “mobile” laptop.
But, I’ve had
the laptop for 6 years….or is it 7? Maybe it’s five. It doesn’t
matter, even five years is too old for computers. Heck, my desktop
at work is barely two years, and it’s already feeling the strain of old
age, unable to keep pace with the current software.
I tried
counting up the number of computers my husband and I have had since our
first. Nine, maybe more, over the span of 22 years. And one
thing I can say for certain….that computer salesman who sold my husband
the very first, either had no clue, or was extremely dishonest.
That first
was purchased in 1985. I was involved in desktop publishing, and what my
desktop lacked was a computer. In those years there was a store
called Computerland, one of the first major retail stores to market the
PC.
I had no
knowledge of computers, other than a college class assignment in a
course called Communications and Social Change, which
introduced us to computers, by way of the punch card. I never did
understand what they expected me to do with that punch card, and when I
finally graduated from college in 1976 I still had no clue. My
next brush with a computer was at the water company where I worked for a
brief time after college. That bulky piece of hardware had its own
room, and I would occasionally input data on a typewriter-like keyboard.
So, when we
decided to try out one of those new-fangled IBM Clone thingies, my
husband headed down to Computerland. I didn’t go with him, as the
purchase was intended to be my Christmas gift that year.
My husband
needed guidance in his purchase. So naturally, he looked to the
Computerland salesman for advise. The salesman sold my husband a
computer with no hard drive. Instead, it had slots for two 5” floppy
discs. One disc held the software, and the other held the data.
The salesman explained that hard drives were unnecessary for the average
user.
And then he
went on to say what would prove to be the most untrue statement ever
said about computers - he told my husband that this computer (the one
with no hard drive) would be all that we would ever need. It would
comfortably take us into the future.
Of course, we
had to upgrade within two years, something that really hasn’t changed in
the computer world.
Since that
first outdated PC, my husband (who resisted using a computer until he
became a licensed real estate agent in 2002) resented the hardware
carcasses gathering in our garage. Should I even mention the
possibility that I might be looking to update, he begins a familiar
tirade, counting down the number of computers, monitors, scanners and
printers that have landed in our hardware graveyard. I also believe he
remembers that long ago false promise made by the Computerland salesman,
which only contributes to his annoyance.
This of
course explains why my home computer is a seasoned Dell laptop, with
rickety hinges, a flickering monitor, sticking keys and short term
memory loss.