Your life without a computer: what does it look like?
When I was born a computer took up an entire room. Then came word processors. Then desktop computers, laptops, and now phones in our pockets and tablets in our bags.
The good old days
It’s nowhere near as satisfying hitting end call, as it is slamming down a phone receiver with real fury.
It’s nowhere near as much fun playing a game on a phone, as it is having fun with friends. Nor can you go “whoops sorry, what a shame” as you ‘accidentally’ upend the board when you’re losing. Deleting the game isn’t the same, and the phone doesn’t care.
If you haven’t had the experience of having to retype an entire page because you forgot a comma, you haven’t really lived. It took great stoicism to cope with that, especially as you normally made at least six errors on the second attempt.
For some reason a filing cabinet still makes more sense to me than computer folders – which are not folders at all! Although it’s been a long time since I’ve walked into the corner of a filing cabinet drawer and practiced my command of curse words. I’m so unprepared now if someone is rude to me.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the chaos a glass of water can cause when you knock it all over your desk. Soggy paperwork versus ruined keyboard, drowned mouse, and swimming phone. They all lead to the same nervous breakdown.
Without computers I might be better off, shopping is way too easy!
I also might trust the world more. Nowadays I trust it less because it’s not just the politicians and media trying to mislead you, it seems like the entire world is trying to confuse you.
It was so much easier to watch the news, turn it off, and wait and see what happened. Now opinions land on my desktop from all directions and no one seems to agree. It’s a wonder I know my own name! Unless it is “woke idiot” 🤣
In the old days a few people got on your nerves, now it’s half the population of the developed world.
I miss the fresh air too, and sunlight. We used to go out and lose two hours on a lovely walk, or playing ball, now we lose four hours getting the cramp.
I could go on.
One thing that is nicer nowadays is that my excuse for not getting something done is that the cat’s asleep on my keyboard.
Obviously that can be a problem if they’ve accidentally hit send on the email you weren’t going to actually send to your boss, but hey, there’s always another job.
It’s a handy excuse because most people go ‘aww, bless, have you got a picture of Lord Pussykins Snafflebum?…Oh isn’t he adorable!’
Are the pro’s a con?
That’s the question. Computers have given a lot but taken more in some ways.
They supposed to be super-efficient but everything seems to actually take longer. Especially after updates that leave you looking for all the menus, buttons, and options, that were there ten minutes ago.
AI can be useful, but when asked to create a poster with a blue background and a white daisy border, it can (and did) offer up an orange page with the words ‘a white daisy border’ nicely centred. Close, in the same way the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon are a mere hop, skip, and jump apart. If you fancy plunging thousands of feet into the Colorado River. AI will do the same to your reputation.
Keyboards are great but repetitive strain injury is a b*tch. Mice exist to jump all over the place if there’s a hair near the mouse mat. Thus ruining your aim and embarrassing you when you find that the ‘h’ you were trying to insert between t and e, landed up between the s and i in sit.
Yep they’re great, but we’re starved of daylight and oxygen. Useful but we lose hours being unproductive because…well…cute animal videos.
It’s a confusing relationship.
Best love
Amorah – Deb
Deb Hawken - Amorah 