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Virtual Gods
Jan. 22nd, 2010 01:30 pmI encompass all the developments from pre-printing to broadband. When I was little, I had to write longhand, but soon realised this was slowing me down and appropriated my mother's typewriter when I was 13. It was an Olivetti Lettera 22. I expect to hear from the museum any day now.
I saw the ultimate in typewriters in my first jobs, around 1985, when a crossbreed of typewriter and computer was developed. It had a little screen where you could check your line before you sent it to print. These typewriters were massive things and so complicated that being able to make it work was part of one job interview, since no one in that office was able to use it. The advent of the PC made them very quickly obsolete. I learned how to use those on the job too. From there it was a basic form of Internet, without graphics - hi, Dialix! - and then dialup with Iinet. I think that's when I first became addicted, in the sense that I get twitchy when I don't have access.
When I think about this reasonably, i.e, at a time when my Internet connection is working, it's a bit of a mystery. Most of the time, I can contact anyone I *really* need to talk to by phone and the things I do online are not so crucial as all that. I check my mail, my Live Journal, a couple of forums, the news, the weather. Sometimes I even research things for use in fiction.
I decided to get Broadband now because my aged modem had conked anyway. It was set up yesterday and the speed, the capabilities, were fantastic. Then today, the new modem went URK. It had to be taken away to the electronic ICU ward by Computer Guy, intended for return but he says he's been able to "resuscitate it." I'm hoping it will now work properly. If it doesn't, I'll no doubt be thrown into the same twitchy mental state I've been in for the past three weeks, with no home Internet at all.
Why do I do this to myself? Nothing *ever* went wrong with that first manual typewriter. Technology outstripped it; it is now not possible to get the ancient ribbons it used. I like the linked feeling, being able to contact people anywhere, any time and know I'm not disturbing their dinner or their shower or whatever. It's a linked feeling with the world, not just people I know personally. Not only has it changed my life, but it has changed the way I think. In a very real sense, I've been rewired by the Internet.
I'm not certain the VOIP is the best idea I ever had but I'll give it a few months to see if it helps me financially at all and also how reliable it is.
*twitch*
I saw the ultimate in typewriters in my first jobs, around 1985, when a crossbreed of typewriter and computer was developed. It had a little screen where you could check your line before you sent it to print. These typewriters were massive things and so complicated that being able to make it work was part of one job interview, since no one in that office was able to use it. The advent of the PC made them very quickly obsolete. I learned how to use those on the job too. From there it was a basic form of Internet, without graphics - hi, Dialix! - and then dialup with Iinet. I think that's when I first became addicted, in the sense that I get twitchy when I don't have access.
When I think about this reasonably, i.e, at a time when my Internet connection is working, it's a bit of a mystery. Most of the time, I can contact anyone I *really* need to talk to by phone and the things I do online are not so crucial as all that. I check my mail, my Live Journal, a couple of forums, the news, the weather. Sometimes I even research things for use in fiction.
I decided to get Broadband now because my aged modem had conked anyway. It was set up yesterday and the speed, the capabilities, were fantastic. Then today, the new modem went URK. It had to be taken away to the electronic ICU ward by Computer Guy, intended for return but he says he's been able to "resuscitate it." I'm hoping it will now work properly. If it doesn't, I'll no doubt be thrown into the same twitchy mental state I've been in for the past three weeks, with no home Internet at all.
Why do I do this to myself? Nothing *ever* went wrong with that first manual typewriter. Technology outstripped it; it is now not possible to get the ancient ribbons it used. I like the linked feeling, being able to contact people anywhere, any time and know I'm not disturbing their dinner or their shower or whatever. It's a linked feeling with the world, not just people I know personally. Not only has it changed my life, but it has changed the way I think. In a very real sense, I've been rewired by the Internet.
I'm not certain the VOIP is the best idea I ever had but I'll give it a few months to see if it helps me financially at all and also how reliable it is.
*twitch*