With all the talk lately about the importance of technology and how it aims to make our lives better, I would like to take a few moments to rant about this very same topic. Technology, when it functions, is great. In the case of the computer alone, it allows us to keep neat and detailed records; communicate with friends, family and people at school; make purchases from an ever-expanding national and global marketplace; and waste our free time like never before. More and more, we are required to use the internet for class, whether to make an appoitment to meet with a T.A. or view lecture materials through Learn@UW. All of this is great. I consider myself technologically saavy and I use the internet just as much as the next Joe. My problem begins, though, when the technologies that are supposed to make our lives better do little more than cause frustration nearly unparalleled.
My old trusty HP desktop is now in its sixth year of use and abuse. With each passing day, it brings excitement to my life in the form of contemplating how many seconds it would take to hit the ground if I were to throw it out of my second story window. Most recently, I was advised by Adobe that I needed to install the latest version of Reader in order to open a certain .PDF file. I did what was expected of me by visiting the Adobe website and downloading then installing the program. Once I had everything completed I attempted to open the file again only to be told that a 'fatal error had occured.' The file wouldn't open, and neither would any of the others that had no problem with my old version of Reader. A couple restarts later and it still didn't work so I was forced to deleted what I had installed, and I have yet to have the time to attempt to reinstall the version.
This is just one of the several examples I encounter nearly weekly and it leads me to say 'damn technology.' I know you mean well, but sometimes you cause me such problems that I wonder if we would be better off without you. I was around for the time when we scheduled classes with the old telephone lady and she never gave me any attitude. Letter writing didn't used to be too bad either. Sure it was slow, but I never felt like burning the paper and pencil for all of the grief it was causing me. I guess somedays I just feel like we all have so much stress in our lives already that the additional frustrations that technology bring seem in a way counter intuitive to what we expect of technology itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for technology, but can somebody please figure out how to get rid of those glitches? I would be forever grateful.
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4 comments:
I used to have an HP,and speaking from experience, the "Fatal error" is actually the death rattle of the computer. Mine crashed twice in the following month or so. Get it to a doctor!
I know what you mean. That is the reason why I didn't get a compter until just a few weeks ago. And this is my fifth year here. It always seems like too much trouble, more than it's worth. People were always having to rerout their lives to take their computer in because they got some nasty virus or having problems because they didn't have the right program or version to open something. I always enjoyed the computer lab because you could just go into the computerlab and if you needed to download something you could do it with out hesitation or regret. If the computer you chose to sit at was malfunctioning all you had to do was move to the computer next to you. It really is great and I still go there because it still seems lke the bette deal. But, I personally think that they should have a way to automatically update the new version of a program, that way it is ready when you need it. But you should be able to block updates also just in case you like the older version better and it doesn't really matter which. But I think there will always be technological errors. I would jus prefer to have old ones that people know how to fix, than to have new ones that most people haven't experienced yet.
Listen to Randi. We used to have an HP at my house, and it crashed a couple times after a few years of use. so beware.
and I also agree with what you mean about the little glitches being so bothersome. since technology is in so many places and so many people rely on it on a daily basis, the glitches should be taken care of. I hope this happens soon.
I agree that computers can be very frusterating. I never install anything unless need be and I alwasy have someone with me who will know what to do if something goes wrong. I am also not techonologicaly savy.
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