I spent years denouncing Computers as akin to the Anti-Christ and now that one has taken over my life I begin to think that maybe I had a point. It was the fall of 2000 and I was home with a bad cold when I broke down and went to an IBM Store—they don’t have them anymore—to buy my first computer which operated with Windows Me. Little did I know then what a disaster the OS was or that half the software that came with the package I bought was incompatible with the operating system that came installed on the computer? I wonder why IBM no longer sells PC’s.
Time was when I read 50 to 60 books a year and spent my weekends with my feet up listening to CD’s from my extensive collection while I read the Saturday and Sunday Star and Toronto Sun Weekend edition. I also ran across to the store or box across the road and picked up a paper daily to read with my morning coffee while I listened to CBC before I went off to work. What made me break down? Part of it was all the things I kept reading about that were available only online. Then I saw what my friends were able to do with their computers—though those early ones were too user-unfriendly for my tastes and computer games like pong or blasting insects and space ships didn’t hold much appeal. The first time I actually used a computer for anything was to conduct online searches for books at Chapters Books and it was there I first met screen image burn-in.
I had been keeping a personal journal for years and with my dubious penmanship using a keyboard and word-processor seemed the thing to do. My old manual Smith-Corona typewriter is too inconvenient and noisy for creative work though I acknowledge that authors used one for decades and I’ve typed a thesis or two with one myself. The most important factor in the use of a word-processor on a computer is the ease with which one can edit text and the built-in spell check option. Having a good thesaurus and dictionary at one’s disposal at the click of a button doesn’t hurt either. I’ve kept a daily journal ever since I installed the first copy of Lotus Word on my computer and no longer feel it necessary to print what I’ve written. Writing a journal was the first serious task I performed on a computer. I also enjoyed playing Solitaire and Spider. As soon as I acquired MS Works Suite I set to work at cataloguing my 3000+ CD collection for insurance purposes—not to mention for my memory’s sake. I’d attempted to do it on paper, long-hand but must confess that doing it on the computer is far superior—sorting one’s entries is definitely a plus. Mind you I’ve since converted to Collectorz Music Collector software:
http://www.collectorz.com/music/
Mind you I haven’t had time to re-enter my entire collection. There is one advantage though, this software gets the info directly from the disk when you put it in the CD-ROM Drive and downloads the album cover online. They also have a similar product for DVD’s, books, picture files, and MP3’s. I suppose I should be collecting a royalty. I do like this software and it’s updated regularly.
Having mastered the basics I tried out AOL but after two weeks tired rapidly of the two-stage process of getting onto the net—I wasn’t interested in AOL itself so I switched to Sympatico dial-up. Don’t suppose I have to explain watching paint dry to anyone. Within a year I converted to Sympatico’s ADSL High-Speed after they came out with a version that was Me compatible. When I first signed up they seemed to have a lot of technical problems but things have settled down since—though I had to have them reset my E-mail pass-word just this week. I’m lucky to be close to a repeater Node and I get better than advertised service. I suppose that Sympatico’s techies in customer support are no better or worse than those at any other ISP but the online web site has to be one of the most inaccessible and hard to navigate next to that of my employer—Canada Post. If my basic service wasn’t so good I’d have given up years ago—Sympatico’s business department is fragmented, dis-organized, and incapable of even basic bookkeeping. Given 6 months and several calls they eventually get it right but I shudder every time my contract comes up for renewal.
When the hard drive on my IBM started failing I gave up on the warrantee, put the machine in mothballs, and switched to a clone put together by a local computer expert. In the process I also reverted to Windows 98 SE and discovered that the software I already owned actually did work. I also discovered that if one doesn’t have dial-up internet software installed Windows can’t manage to screw up your settings with it. I stuck with 98SE until Boxing Day of 2005 when Microsoft finally had the worst of the bugs worked out of XP and the local Futureshop actually had it marked down. The other driving force was the fact that the latest version of Norton Antivirus operates only on XP as does iTunes, Acrobat Reader 7, Quick Time 7, and Nero 7. Must say that most of the software I already owned works on XP and that it’s a far superior product generally. In particular the memory manager and swap file actually work! By using the Hibernate option I get away with rebooting only once or twice a week instead of several times a day.
So that’s the history of my experience with computers; I hope it doesn’t bore the few readers I have. I see the total has now topped 32. So how has my life changed? I’ve worn out one pivoting LCD Screen and one computer chair—the new chair has a breathable back. I spend most of my Saturday’s winding down in front of the computer. I haven’t bought a newspaper in several years. I get my news online and on radio; though I don’t listen to radio as much as I once did having discovered the joys of Viddiplayer and commercial-free online radio. I still manage to read 25 to 30 books a year, (though I buy most of them online these days), and have even read a few on my computer screen. uBook and the Gutenberg Project make good partners. I’ve recently converted my subscription to MacLean’s Magazine to an electronic one through Zinio Reader and was moved to subscribe to PC World that way as well—given its content it seems only fitting. While I was at it finally subscribed to Reader’s Digest for the first time in nearly 40 years—since it’s now delivered electronically they don’t have my home address and can’t send me all that junk mail. I subscribe to approximately 20 daily comics by E-mail.
I do my banking online and keep my accounts in Quicken though I had to buy a newer version as the original is no longer supported. I get my weather reports online especially since CBC started playing stale canned reports that are often out-dated. I’ve written 1500 letters in MS Word in the last 5 years and then sent them by E-mail; there are only two older relatives to whom I still send hard copy mail. I have an electronic cookbook with 12,000 recipes and keep my appointments in an electronic organizer—to date I don’t own a portable data terminal. I have bought a Digital Camera and keep my photos on the computer and backed up to two separate remote drives. I use ULead Photo Explorer to view my photos and do basic editing and bought Photoshop Elements 4 just after Christmas for more serious editing—I had used Corel Photoshop but found it clunky. I have an AGFA Snap Scan scanner. I make slideshows with Xat Show. I’ve used Mavis Beacon and Turbo Typing to hone my typing skills—there are some adjustments to make between a manual typewriter and a computer keyboard—I typed 30 wpm on a manual and can now manage 40. I keep track of my Asthma with a peak flow meter and Asthma Assistant software—it’s now free! I’ve bought Houghton Mifflin’s eReference Electronic Dictionary and use Word Web for a thesaurus. MSWorks contains Encarta and Streets and Maps which I use on occasion. I also have several other reference works though I have limited use lately since I’ve discovered the joys of the online Encyclopedia, Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
I haven’t played many games on the computer lately but I have number installed including Solitaire Plus which I actually purchased—it’s superior to the Windows version. I have MS Reader and downloaded the books they offered free though I’ve only bought one electronic book. For those interested in Bible Study I commend to your consideration the free software from:
It offers scores of translations, dozens of commentaries, dictionaries, maps, and daily devotions. I’ve discovered the freeware program VideoLAN for viewing virtually any media on a computer including DVD’s which I have watched on my 19” LCD screen.
In closing here are the websites I visit daily:
http://tvlistings3.zap2it.com/
http://www.haltonsearch.com/hr/ob/
I use the Maxthon browser because I like the features it adds to Internet Explorer including cookie and ad blocking, multi-threading, pop-up blocking, built-in search, RSS Feed Reader, Mouse Actions, Keyboard Shortcuts, and added sidebar resources. I also use Firefox for sites that aren’t IE Compatible and since it became free recently installed Opera just to try it out. I use Norton Utilities Professional which includes Virus software, Lavasoft’s AdAware and AdWatch and have Spybot which I run on occasion just in case. I’ve used Agnitum’s free firewall but haven’t bought the Pro model since I upgraded to XP. So far I’ve gotten away without one as I don’t have a permanent internet connection. Norton Antivirus doesn’t approve of XP’s built in firewall for some reason. Claims it interferes with their own firewall.
Well there you have it. The book on my experience with computers. Hope this is of interest to some of you.
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