It had to happen eventually. I really don't like computers. In fact I could say it's something of a love/hate relationship. Figuring out the love and hate part has always been a little murky though. They are like that coked out slut you dated a long time ago who would steal from you. Just when you were ready to kick her ass out she would show you a good time and you nearly forgot about all the shit she put you through before. It's that promise that things will be better than keeps them around. Computers were supposed to make life easier and speed up certain tasks. If that's true then how come people are still spending the same amount of time working? Where's all the extra free time the computer were supposed to give us? If anything it seems as though computers have created more work for people. So what is it about computers that keeps someone like me coming back to them?
I'm from that last generation to know what it was like to not have computers in our every day. Sure they were around early on, but like cell phones in late 80s and early 90s, they weren't very common. My earliest memory of a computer was in 2nd grade. We were shown a game that was like space invaders, but for typing. I knew from that moment I was hooked. Every chance I could get I would go play (and unknowingly learn). At that age I saw a computer as some kind of new toy. Based on what I use computers for today, I think my seven year old self was pretty much right. You would think that someone who has spent all of my adult life working with and studying computers would have a better sense of what to do with a computer besides surf the web, send emails, watch videos, and read mindless blogs...ahem. Maybe it's because I've spent so much time with them that there's no mystery left with them. I know how the magic trick works and it's pretty mundane.
Computers aren't magic boxes that have all the answers. It's actually people with all the answers. Computers just collect those answers and make it easier to access. All those Wikipedia articles you love, some anal retentive person with too much time on their hands spent the time writing and fact checking (hopefully) that information so that when you want to find out some information about Tomás de Yepes, it's there. It's almost like computers are windows into this giant storage unit of (mostly useless) information.
I recently talked to someone who wasn't very familiar with computers and they told me that they were always worried that they would break it. I guess I can understand that because on the surface computers seem very complex. Strangely enough computers, or at least their operating systems are less complex now than they were ten years ago. I say less complex in the sense that the common user doesn't need to know as many technical aspects as they used to. Using a DOS shell is quickly becoming a thing of the past as everything has a bright and shiny Nerf-like interface to it. I suppose that's good because it prevents the end user from getting themselves into too much trouble. It's almost like the shift from manual transmissions to automatic ones in cars. Knowing how to drive a stick is useful in certain situations, but for the most part you can get by without that knowledge. The same is true with today's computers. If you don't know what dir /p does that's ok, Windows Explorer has got you covered. Anyway there is that worry that one could break a computer if they don't know what they're doing. In most cases that's rarely true. You may get the computer into a state that's more annoying than anything else, but with backups and restore points already built in, it's very easy to essentially get a do-over. And in the event that the computer is really "broken" then so what? Unless there is smoke pouring from the case, it's very likely you can just start from scratch with a reinstall. Now I know that can be a pain in the ass because you're never really expecting to lose everything on your hard drive, like you're never expecting a house fire to destroy all your belongings. The thing with computers though is that it's really easy to store that stuff in external devices. The worst case scenario is that you spend a few hours getting the computer back to square one, which if you've ever done, is actually very liberating.
There are people I know who like to build their own computers, which is something I've never found appealing. But I also don't really like building anything on my own. I prefer to pay a little bit extra to have someone else do it. Hopefully someone who knows what they're doing. The added benefit to this is that you have someone to blame if things don't work right. If I do it myself then there is no one to blame, but me and that's just not going to work when I'm standing over a smoldering pile of scrap. Then again building a computer these days is another thing that's been dumbed down to the point that just about anyone can do it. Building a computer today is like building a house out of Legos, all the hard work is done for you. You just match the pieces together. Open up your computer's case and you'll see what I mean. Everything is labeled and snaps into color coded slots.
Now there is some good from computers that I've seen in the last few years. Thanks to social networking sites I have been able to reconnect with several people from my past. People I normally wouldn't be able to effectively call or write to on a regular basis. Many of these people don't have the time, energy, or inclination to use email even though it's something I've been using for 15 years. Instead you can see what someone is doing at a glance. One could argue that this immediacy of almost irrelevant daily information about our lives will make something like a class reunion much less important. Instead of waiting 20 years to find out what someone is doing, you can go to their Facebook page and see that they have two kids, been married twice, and are a member of the Dinosaurs Were Aliens group. So except for the ability to research any subject, play numerous video games, connect with people around the world, watch hilarious videos of cats doing cat things, and find porn in a search using any keyword, what are computers really good for besides slowly wearing down our ability to think for ourselves?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
On Friends
Have you ever stopped to think why you're friends with the people you call your friends?
When we were kids it didn't take much for someone to become our friend. As children we're strangely accepting of new people in our lives and some of the most trivial things lead to friendship. Someone has a cool lunchbox or likes the same toys as you. That's good enough to start being pals. I remember with a couple of my friends I actually became friends with them because they were "hired" to beat me up. Instead of beating me up I talked my way out of the situation and we went to play on the slide. The three of us were friends for years. That was a memorable start to a friendship, but there are so many friendships that have started where I don't even know how I met the person. They just sort of appear in my memory as if they've always been there.
About a year ago I lost a friend who was like that. I can't remember a point when I didn't know him. I think about my childhood and he was there. We weren't best friends, but he was sort of constant for me. After high school we both went our separate ways. We would talk to each other every couple years during college, doing that thing where it felt like no time had passed between when we last saw each other. Then we'd both go back about our lives, comforted by the thought that no matter what else happened, the other would be out there. We had just started back up our rotation and were getting in contact with each other after a few years when he died suddenly. Not only was I sad because my friend was gone, but one of those constants in my life was no longer there.
As we get older it gets harder to let people into our weird little lives. Making friends isn't as easy anymore. Someone likes the same tv show as you, that's not always enough to break through our protective walls. I actually have a really hard time with the word "friend" anyway. It's been that way for a long time. It's actually a problem with labels in general, but that's probably too much for this column. When I think of someone I know and like they're usually in this strangely unclassified state in my head. That's assuming I like you. If I don't like you then you and your name are chucked over the side to make room for other things I do care about. I won't waste time disliking you, instead I'll nothing you. I'll spend as much time thinking about you as I will wondering if Purdue has a good fencing team this year.
On the other hand, if I like you there's a whole other process going on in my mind. I think it comes down to trust, which is an other huge topic. It matters on my level of trust with you. For most people I know I trust them with trivial information such as my thoughts on 80s cartoons being made into movies. You won't be getting too much of my political views or hopes and dreams. And at the same time I won't be asking about those things from you.
It takes a lot for someone to be moved into the friend category. Not a lot on the person's part, but on mine. I have to accept that the person in question isn't going to be bounding out of my life right as I got comfortable with them. I'm sure to the outside observer that probably comes off as a little unfair, but that's just how things work in my head. Once you're considered a friend it takes a lot to undo it. You're actually more stuck with me than anything else. The problem with that is if there is a falling out then it's permanent. If you're out with me then you're out forever. They say it's good to forgive and forget, but I don't have the patience for that. I'll just move on without you.
Anyway back to the original question, why are you friends with the people you call your friends? Is it because you knew them as a kid? Maybe it's because you went to college together. Have kids in the same school. Helped them hide a body after a wild night in Vegas. There are all kinds of reasons we pick people to be our friends initially, but what keeps them around after they've wandered into our orbit? It seems to me that people get there based on what they like, not so much what they are like. It's only after they've arrived that it reverses itself.
Are the people we meet as adults the same kind of friends as the people we met when we were young? Probably not. And it's not really fair to compare the two. I was a different person when I was a kid and my friends from then who are still around are the ones who managed to run the gauntlet that is me. They've had a lifetime to know me. The people I meet today only know the person I am now and the history gets filled as we go. I suppose both come down to just accepting someone into your life and hoping they like you. Weird how things don't really change all that much from when we were kids. We've just had more practice.
When we were kids it didn't take much for someone to become our friend. As children we're strangely accepting of new people in our lives and some of the most trivial things lead to friendship. Someone has a cool lunchbox or likes the same toys as you. That's good enough to start being pals. I remember with a couple of my friends I actually became friends with them because they were "hired" to beat me up. Instead of beating me up I talked my way out of the situation and we went to play on the slide. The three of us were friends for years. That was a memorable start to a friendship, but there are so many friendships that have started where I don't even know how I met the person. They just sort of appear in my memory as if they've always been there.
About a year ago I lost a friend who was like that. I can't remember a point when I didn't know him. I think about my childhood and he was there. We weren't best friends, but he was sort of constant for me. After high school we both went our separate ways. We would talk to each other every couple years during college, doing that thing where it felt like no time had passed between when we last saw each other. Then we'd both go back about our lives, comforted by the thought that no matter what else happened, the other would be out there. We had just started back up our rotation and were getting in contact with each other after a few years when he died suddenly. Not only was I sad because my friend was gone, but one of those constants in my life was no longer there.
As we get older it gets harder to let people into our weird little lives. Making friends isn't as easy anymore. Someone likes the same tv show as you, that's not always enough to break through our protective walls. I actually have a really hard time with the word "friend" anyway. It's been that way for a long time. It's actually a problem with labels in general, but that's probably too much for this column. When I think of someone I know and like they're usually in this strangely unclassified state in my head. That's assuming I like you. If I don't like you then you and your name are chucked over the side to make room for other things I do care about. I won't waste time disliking you, instead I'll nothing you. I'll spend as much time thinking about you as I will wondering if Purdue has a good fencing team this year.
On the other hand, if I like you there's a whole other process going on in my mind. I think it comes down to trust, which is an other huge topic. It matters on my level of trust with you. For most people I know I trust them with trivial information such as my thoughts on 80s cartoons being made into movies. You won't be getting too much of my political views or hopes and dreams. And at the same time I won't be asking about those things from you.
It takes a lot for someone to be moved into the friend category. Not a lot on the person's part, but on mine. I have to accept that the person in question isn't going to be bounding out of my life right as I got comfortable with them. I'm sure to the outside observer that probably comes off as a little unfair, but that's just how things work in my head. Once you're considered a friend it takes a lot to undo it. You're actually more stuck with me than anything else. The problem with that is if there is a falling out then it's permanent. If you're out with me then you're out forever. They say it's good to forgive and forget, but I don't have the patience for that. I'll just move on without you.
Anyway back to the original question, why are you friends with the people you call your friends? Is it because you knew them as a kid? Maybe it's because you went to college together. Have kids in the same school. Helped them hide a body after a wild night in Vegas. There are all kinds of reasons we pick people to be our friends initially, but what keeps them around after they've wandered into our orbit? It seems to me that people get there based on what they like, not so much what they are like. It's only after they've arrived that it reverses itself.
Are the people we meet as adults the same kind of friends as the people we met when we were young? Probably not. And it's not really fair to compare the two. I was a different person when I was a kid and my friends from then who are still around are the ones who managed to run the gauntlet that is me. They've had a lifetime to know me. The people I meet today only know the person I am now and the history gets filled as we go. I suppose both come down to just accepting someone into your life and hoping they like you. Weird how things don't really change all that much from when we were kids. We've just had more practice.
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