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Computerist?
Who ever heard of such a word? But
if a typist is a person who uses a
typewriter, why isn’t “computerist” an appropriate term for a computer
user? Anyway,
who cares?
Yes,
I am a frustrated computer user. It
all began a zillion years ago (actually, about 30
years ago).
While we had a lot of computers at Unum, most were used by the
administrative staff for word processing. My
associate, Mark Battista, enthusiastically
told me of the wonderful new machine he had in his home, a personal computer
with
which he could not only produce documents, but he could create and manage
spreadsheets,
process photographs and use something called e-mail.
OK,
Mark, that’s interesting, but I like to dictate letters at work and at home. I
am happy
to use the phone or good old U.S.
mail. He kept nudging me, telling me
that I could have
a computer at my desk at work for almost no departmental cost, the majority of
the
depreciation having been absorbed by some other department.
You
guessed it. I secured the computer;
one day I turned it on and gradually found out
what a neat piece of equipment it was. Before
long, I decided that I wanted to have a
comparable piece of equipment at home. My
first computer cost around $2,000, black
-and white only, very slow by today’s standards. But
it got me started.
Within
the past month, here in 2010, I have upgraded to my latest computer, probably
my fourth. It cost less than $400
and its speed and storage capacity are amazing.
This
all sounds so great, but why am I am a frustrated computerist?
It’s because I’m just not
smart enough to outwit the machine;
it’s always doing things I don’t understand.
Why does the system choke up and seem to freeze so I have to use Ctrl-Alt-Delete
to bring
it back to life? I have no idea. How
can I find a file or a photograph when I know it’s in
the computer but a search reveals no sign of the file name I have provided?
Most
frustrating is getting used to one operating system (a big sounding term; I have
no idea
what it really means) such as Windows XP and then moving to Vista and then to
Windows 7 and my presumably perfectly good programs no longer work or function
poorly. Everyone else seems to know
what a driver is. I don’t.
In
some ways, I’m overstating my frustrations because as I looked around for work
after
I retired from Unum I started my own little word processing business in an
office attached
to my home in Yarmouth. I advertised
in the local paper, my entry often being the only
typing service in their classified ads. I
was comfortable in writing and I helped many
hundreds of people with their resumes and cover letters.
I prepared in finished form, with
graphics, detailed autobiographies for two clients. I
organized and prepared the text of a
cookbook published by the Portland Museum of Art.
For quite a few years I handled all
correspondence and contributions in the U.S. for the Guatemala-based
organization, Safe
Passage, founded by the late Hanley Denning.
I also edited and prepared for printing the
Headlighters News for the first few years, before Bob Anastasoff took over.
I enjoyed interfacing
with my customers and I took great satisfaction in making things look neat and
professional with
the computer.
Some
years ago a dear friend gave me a digital camera. This
has opened a whole new and exciting
experience for me. I have updated my
camera so I’m now on my third model. A
couple of courses
in digital photography given by the OLLI program at USM has helped in my
proficiency and I now
feel very comfortable in taking, editing and making prints in all sizes as well
as sending graphics over
the Internet with e-mail. I just
completed a brief course in the use of Picasa with which I am not yet
comfortable.
Every
week I post a new photo display for my fellow residents to enjoy here at The
Highlands in
Topsham where Jean and I now reside. Recent
topics have been “Early Spring Flowers at The
Highlands, “Seen in the parking lots at The Highlands” (a display of odd
number plates and
bumper stickers), a two-part “Pet Owners and Pets at The Highlands,” “New
Year’s Eve
Celebration,” and “Behind the Scenes in Food Preparation at The
Highlands.”
The
current textbook I am studying is “Windows 7 for Seniors for Dummies.”
I learn well by
going through the book, page-by-page, performing the task on the computer as I
am reading
about it.