Confusers and Electrickery

This blog is about computers, so skip it if the subject bores the pants off you....

I can  think of only one of our large group of friends and acquaintances in this neck of the woods who doesn't have a computer; I'm talking about a group of people, mostly immigrant retirees, with an average age of around 60+, at a guess. Yet nearly all of us have them in the home and feel utterly deprived when they 'go down', get fried by thunderstorms (pretty fierce affairs here when compared with those we remember from times past back in Blighty) or when our 'Internet Providers' inexplicably stop providing on random occasions. 

'Confusers' are what a good friend of mine calls computers - you only have to change a few letters and you're there. 'Electrickery is another word he uses a lot. He's a nice, intelligent chap, running a survey company in the UK. He has to rely on them as tools of the trade (we're talking land survey here - mapping, so lots of numbers have to be crunched), but he's honest too. I spent ten years helping people to do useful things with these desktop, one-eyed beasts and I know that my friend is not alone. Everyone is confused by them, including me.

One thing came home to me very early during this period when I was frantically trying to keep ahead of the latest 'improvements' and 'updates'. My revelation was that these machines will always be confusing until the day comes along when their actual purpose and method of use are as readily understood as those of a toaster, a telephone, or a teapot..

Why do so many of us, even oldies and crinklies, need these wretched machines? What do we actually do with them? We send emails and browse the internet. These two activities have been more or less 'mastered' by most of us, but even then, the finer points of 'cut-and-paste', email attachment formats, 'favourite' web site management, RSS news-feeds etc. etc. are too tricky to bother about. We get by, largely without them.

Some of us like to use the 'media' facilities and enjoy playing with our digital photo or video libraries. As for spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing, graphics, even computer diaries and 'to do' applications, these are largely spurned by most of us. Yet, a 'home' computer is an incredibly versatile and powerful tool, capable of doing almost anything if you know how. That's why it carries its relatively high price-tag; it's like having a box of tools in the house for any conceivable task. Only a small percentage will ever be used because we haven't learned how to use them, or we're just not interested.

Yet, the complete toolbox is there, cluttering-up the desk.

We don't actually need all this capability. Most of the time we simply need a small device for internet browsing, interaction (booking hotels, flights, ferries etc.) and emailing.

And in my opinion, combining these functions in a portable telephone is not the answer, especially while the telecom companies persist in ripping everyone off with outrageous charges.

Times are changing however. Broadband blues aside (last month's blog on the subject..), hand-held, wireless devices are now available offering email and web access with all that the latter can provide. Not to mention the digital media functionality like photo, music and video facilities. The leader of the pack at the moment is Apple's 'iPod Touch' which is, in fact, its world-beating iPhone without the 'phone bit (i.e., without the crippling charges). Other manufacturers are catching-up, fast.

I can see us all using these before we're driving our Zimmer frames. The computer accessories industry will be right there with us with its 'Zimmer iPod clip-on holder' with built-in speakers, auto-charging as we shuffle along....

I hope so - I look forward to it.

Mapmaker