2 posts tagged “computing”
I like to think that I'm a decent person and try to help others as best I can. My neighbor Cici has an Apple eMac using OS 9.02. She's had this computer for at least five years and the system is too slow for her to upgrade to OSX.
I have her up and running on DSL and I set up a Gmail account for her, but because she's using OS 9.X with Internet Explorer, all of Gmail's features are not available. I tried downloading Firefox but the latest version does not work with OS 9.0 either.
Since her Gmail is fairly new and she hasn't emailed too many people, I figured the best solution is to move her to Yahoo. So I set up a Yahoo account and emailed her everything she needed to login and use it. I gave her the user name and told her "your password is the same as your Gmail account".
No kidding, not thirty minutes later I get a voice mail from her saying, "You gave me everything except my password. I can't login without it!" I returned her call and asked her to read aloud what I'd written. "Oh, I didn't understand."
She tried logging in to Yahoo mail as I waited on the line and then said she couldn't find the Inbox icon. "Where's the Contact List to add email addresses? Where's .....?" I stopped her and said, "Cici, you have to read the screen and experiment. Everything you need is right in front of you."
After I disconnected and talked to Boo we agreed that Cici is the type of computer user that would likely spread viruses if she were on a Windows machine, because she knows enough to get into a lot of trouble but not enough to be a responsible user. After so many years of computing, she doesn't take initiative to learn the features of programs and practice.
I'm all for helping others out, but honestly, the helpee needs to take initiative and practice. Playing the hapless user gets old real fast.
I stumbled on to Sarah's blog, intrigued by her post of pre-buyer's remorse.
My real experience in productivity began with an Apple 128K Macintosh. You know, the 1984 ad with the PC drones blindly following the masses until a rebel threw a sledgehammer into the video screen and shattered the image, freeing the drones to see a new path: The path of the Apple Macintosh!
I had a Commodore 64 before this but it paled in comparison. The Macintosh with its graphical user interface and MacWrite and MacPaint bundled software, allowed me to write/draw and print results in one evening. No Basic coding required and no archaic commands for setting margins on the printer. What a break through!
Like Sarah, the business world demanded proficiency in the PC universes and with Apple's love affair with over pricing their products, I defected to the PC arena where I've remained. I have invested in an iPod and I do see an Apple notebook in my future, but not until the Intel processors are in their second generation.
