I didn’t choose to work with computers or technology. I fell into it and found that I was pretty good at it. The combination of having lived long enough before having technology and seeing the real benefit of word processing over writing long-hand or with a typewriter and still being young enough not to be intimidated by technology has served me well. This comes to mind because over the years I have worked with some really intelligent people who see technology as another bother that they don’t have time for or at worse a depersonalizing force that personally threatens them in some way. What surprises me most are those who seem to be somewhat “scientific” in their thinking, but seem to keep these things at arms length. I guess I’m fortunate that I’m not threatened by the culture of change that technology seems to present.
I remember an anecdote someone once attributed to “Future Shock” author Alvin Toffler that if our great-grandfathers were to come back and were suddenly exposed to the amount of information and technology we work with and the speed at which we deal with things, poor old gramps would run away screaming or at the least would declare us insane for living like this. I have some relatives who probably already feel that way about how I conduct my life. My ex-wife once commented when she saw me sitting at my old Kaypro computer, “What was it that you used to do before that thing came into your life?” Those who only know me as the computer guy or the computer-teacher can be somewhat forgiven for assuming that something I’m passionate about, technology, might be the only thing I’m passionate about. It’s not.And though I may not do it very often, I’m very much aware of the power of turning it all off. jbb
Craig Furgeson could probably do with a little time away from technology…
Music: I Shall Believe from the album “Tuesday Night Music Club” by Sheryl Crow
Technorati Tags: family, Internet, teaching, techtoys, work, writing
I like being associated with this generation’s collection of “crazy ones” (note: the Chief TWIT, Leo Laporte, is among the honored nut-cases)…
