Darn Machine!

I think of myself as reasonably savvy when it comes to computers, however there are days when I want to scream. And I’m sure I’m not the only one! The screen freezes, the cursor doesn’t move, an on-screen picture disappears never to be seen again, or the printer tells me that I need a new ink cartridge although I replaced it a few days earlier, or so it seems. Computers may be able to do things we never imagined just a few years back, but they are machines, and as a truly computer savvy friend pointed out, “Machines break down. Period.”

Computers can have a mind of their own at times, and when I can’t solve the problem, I call a younger person, one born on the Internet as the saying goes, and I can usually find the answer.

Everything seems to be computerized these days from car engines to ovens while phones seem to be able to do everything but cook dinner! I still have a simple cell phone that I use for calling and texting when I’m away. I simply don’t feel the need, as most people seem to these days, to be connected to everything and everyone the moment I step out of my house. While it’s a simple unit, I still had been unable to set the time and date on it. When I told my grandson about it, it took him less than a minute to set everything by working some buttons. It amazed me. Of course, all the gadgets we have today are in no way mysterious for the young as they can sometimes be for the not-so-young.

To make our lives easier, we should all have a young child around to solve modern machine problems. Of course, children are not always patient with their elders, “Grandma, really? You don’t know how to do it?” And so it goes. Computers are second nature to them and are part of the school environment. In my day, way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I wrote essays by hand and studied Latin. A dead language is of little use to me today in my efforts to understand machines that may well take over the world!