This evening as I was taking an exam online and the compatible internet feed went down half way through my test. As I sat in front of the screen and stared at the computer, I was contemplating whether I should use a hammer on the unit or toss it down the staircase, I wondered, what would I do without the internet and more importantly this computer.I began my lessons using a pen and paper to take exams and turn in assignments. I can recall Sister Mary Frances still saying that penmanship was a key element in our future successes in school and life.
Time moved
forward, I was able to use the new electric typewriter, the IBM Selectric. It was a marvelous invention for me. I took a typing class in high school so that I could learn how to use the modern invention. It was nice to know that I would be able to fit so much text on a single sheet of paper with out having to handwrite the pages. Then there was the correction tape –no more having to redo an entire sheet of typing now I could backspace and delete. This was fantastic.Years ago there was such uproar that the machines, aka computers, would be the ruin of the modern world. Fast forward to the modern world and those same naysayers now use their high speed computers everyday to communicate shop and track household expenses. What would these people do without computers?
I think about our son serving in Iraq. He now can send us photos, e-mails and if he has any time left after working, sleeping and eating we can speak with him utilizing Skype. I can not imagine what the mothers’, fathers’ wives and children went through during WWI and WWII. Weeks and months went by before you heard one word from a loved-one. The stress must have been incredible.
I know that I can count money without a calculator, drive down the road with out a gps system and find my way to where I am going. Take college classes at a university versus online / distance learning and I could use a typewriter versus my computer.
What would I do without my computer?
Let’s hope I never have to find out!
I find myself asking that very same question and sometimes I think the answer would be that my life would be less stressful without one. There are some days that I refuse to even turn on my computer for the fact of having to check both of my email accounts, check Blackboard, and Facebook and those days I could care less about what was going on in the great World Wide Web. Then back to reality and you realize that you would also be lost and disconnected from all your friends and really the rest of the world. As much trouble that our computers do cause us, I think it would be more trouble to not have one.
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