I used to be a software engineer by profession, but I have to confess even then I had this love/hate relationship with technology. Even though I learn pretty quickly, I resent the time it takes to figure out how new stuff works. I’d rather be writing! You would not have believed how much I was cussing when I helped my daughters set up their new laptop, which uses Windows 8. What brilliant soul invented a FOUR STEP process just to power off?
I’m also cheap and I don’t care if other people have shinier gadgets, as long as my own gadgets meet my needs.
But I’ve made some progress recently. After over a year of successfully self-publishing e-books, I now actually own a Nook reader myself. I really do like it, especially the ease it brings to taking LOTS AND LOTS of books with me on a plane.
However, my recent trip to Florida showed me another thing I need to upgrade. My father-in-law passed away last year and my mother-in-law not only discontinued their internet service but also threw away all their maps. Since our poor old cell phones aren’t good for anything but phone calls, there was no good high or low tech way of figuring out how to get places we wanted to go on the spur of the moment. OK, maybe we do need to upgrade from what my daughters tell me are “loser phones.”
If I lived in Georgian times, would I be so averse to new technology? Perhaps my cook would resist using one of the new closed stoves, but I can’t imagine that I would resist advances in personal hygiene, like the invention of the shower. Even though it did recirculate the same water… Here’s a cool article from Jane Austen’s World on Regency showers.
Are you a technophobe or do you embrace new technology? What do you rely on now that you never dreamed of needing a decade ago? What would you miss most going back in time?
Also, in the spirit of upgrading, I have a shiny new mailing list. If you don’t always have time to get here to the Riskies but would like to know the big stuff—new releases and special deals—please sign up here.
