When I was a teenager, it never occurred to me that I would
ever use a computer. Very few people ever did. They were as large as a house
in some cases. Whenever I had to type a paper, I lugged out our Olivetti
electric typewriter, along with the onion skin paper and the eraser. We did
have color television and VCRs, we used microwave ovens, but all of our phones
were tethered to the wall. We never knew who was calling until we answered the
phone, and the caller identified himself or herself. We used actual books for
our studying. We were not allowed to use calculators in math class. In my
typing class, we learned on some pretty old fashioned, even then,
electric typewriters.
A funny story: I
worked at a law firm in 1981-82. They had an IBM Selectric clone for a
typewriter. I liked it just fine. The attorneys bought an electronic typewriter
for me to test out. It didn’t make all the noise my tried and true typewriter
made, and the touch was even more light than I was used to using. I gave it the
thumbs down.
In 1985 the law firm in which I had worked for a couple of years
bought computers that used the software WordPerfect, while my future second
husband was busily working for WordPerfect, unbeknownst, of course, to me. It
was a brave new world for me. Mind you, the monitors had amber lettering, the
screens were black. We didn’t have hard drives for the computers. We had floppy
drives that had to be loaded so we could even use the computers. I later bought
my own computer and transcribed at home for attorneys and court reporters who
dictated their notes. I had a very slow daisy wheel printer that used tractor-fed
paper. I remember having to take the pages and tear off the removable edges as
well as tear the papers apart from one another. Lining up the sentences to match perfectly with the numbers on the side of the page was a trick.
30 years later I have a tiny computer that fits in my pocket
that is about a million light years ahead of that first computer I ever used.
We use a DVR to record shows we want to watch at our own leisure. None of the
phones in our house has a tether, especially the mobile phones each of us has.
I don’t ever answer the phone unless I recognize the name or number and IF I
want to have a conversation with that particular caller. Caller ID was a huge
blessing to me when I was divorced. I really needed to be mentally prepared to
willingly have a conversation with my ex-husband.
At work my stenographic writer is completely electronic and
uses no paper. I can use it to wirelessly transmit what I am writing to both my
computer and the judge’s computer. My computer is about two feet from my
writer, but his computer is about 15 feet away. The software and the writer
each contain audiosync features that record what is being said, embedding the
recording or synching it with my transcripts, for ease of transcription.
I have had the same email address for 19 years. It’s the
address I was using when I met my current husband. It works great and holds
great sentimental value, so I’m sure I’ll be keeping it for some time. Of
course, I do have a work email address and a junk email address, and most of my
communication is done through those three addresses as well as text messages to
my mobile phone.
My hubby, with the assistance of like-minded friends,
created a repository for research and answers to questions often asked of
people who were investigating the Church. It was the first of its kind. This
was long before the Church was very involved in utilizing the Internet at all.
He is no longer affiliated with the repository or that organization, but he is
participating in the same sort of activities in different places.
This past week in my studying I learned some important
things to help guide me in my personal time on the Internet. Elder David A.
Bednar asked us to ask ourselves two questions:
1. Does the use of various
technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life?
2. Does the
time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?
These two questions have helped put things into better
perspective and give a great guideline for choosing what, when, and how to
participate in technology and media usage. I have already changed some of my
viewing habits, as has my husband. Each step we take back from harmful sites
and music and programs and movies takes us a step forward toward the things
that hold greater value: Family, health,
joy, our faith, and how we can serve others.
This is my plan. Will you join me?
No comments:
Post a Comment