Cyber Wannabe
Thanks to those of you who gave me info on Gmail. I've concluded my instincts are good in thinking I probably don't need it at this point. I tend to be a cyber wannabe. Being that I'm usually six steps behind many of my friends in fashionable cyber toys I always tend to feel I'm somewhat wanting when everyone else is talking up the new trend.
I'm beginning to mellow on that feeling somewhat because I've discovered in the past that it's possible to angst about jumping into the latest technical fad ('cause -everyone- else is doing it or buying it) and then discover once I get it that I don't really need it or even want it.
ICQ instant messaging comes immediately to mind. Oh, I angsted when that fad was all the rage and I didn't have the system to support it. Felt I was hopelessly out of the cyber communication loop and falling back into the stone age. Ironically, when I finally got onto ICQ I found I didn't like it and after a few months I took it back down. I don't tend to multi-task well, so ICQ was distracting to what I was doing on the computer and I would feel guilty if didn't answer my friends. When I -did- answer them I'd then focus exclusively on that as I found it hard to split my brain in two or three cyber directions at once. So, soon I started masking my presence on ICQ (monitoring it from lurk mode) and eventually I just stopped using it. I'm sure that's why I've never warmed to chat rooms, either- I can't focus on other tasks and participate in a chat room at the same time.
I find it's like reading. I don't tend to focus on reading until I eliminate other distractions first- the TV, the radio, the husband... OK, maybe not the husband :). But that was one thing that it took me awhile to adjust to living with John. When John walks into the living room he automatically turns on the TV. Doesn't matter if he's reading, working on the computer, gaming, the TV is "media wallpaper" in the background. That is so not me. For me the TV only goes on when I'm watching it and it's turned off if I choose to do something else because it distracts me.
But I find I digress...
So, yeah, I'm mellowing on the cyber learning curve thing. I'm finding that when I want the cyber technology it's there for me to learn, even if it's months or years after everyone else has done it. I eventually got around to getting on the Internet, building my first website, trying ICQ, learning about digital photography, starting a blog, learning to burn my own CDs. When the need finally hits, I manage to figure it out, meandering my own slow semi-cyber way. But I'll always be six steps behind and I always go through the wannabe cycles.
What is sending my cyber wannabe senses a-tingling these days? IPods. As in, oh, no, everybody seems to have one, should I get one, too? But part of me is also saying, heck, girl, you only bought your CD Walkman less than a year ago, do you -really- need an IPod? And the answer for now is "no", but no doubt two years along the line, when everyone else I know is into the next great cyber sonic fad I'll get the whim to buy an IPod.
QUESTION:
So, what is your technical personality like? Do you have to be on the cutting edge of all the new blinky techno-gadgets?
Do you feel behind the curve of your more techno-savvy friends? Are you quite content to be there? Do you cautiously let the first techno waves go through to see if they last and then invest in trends further down the road? Do you think the world is simply too full of techno-gadgets now? Do you thrive on multi-tasking or does you brain work more linearly?
I'm beginning to mellow on that feeling somewhat because I've discovered in the past that it's possible to angst about jumping into the latest technical fad ('cause -everyone- else is doing it or buying it) and then discover once I get it that I don't really need it or even want it.
ICQ instant messaging comes immediately to mind. Oh, I angsted when that fad was all the rage and I didn't have the system to support it. Felt I was hopelessly out of the cyber communication loop and falling back into the stone age. Ironically, when I finally got onto ICQ I found I didn't like it and after a few months I took it back down. I don't tend to multi-task well, so ICQ was distracting to what I was doing on the computer and I would feel guilty if didn't answer my friends. When I -did- answer them I'd then focus exclusively on that as I found it hard to split my brain in two or three cyber directions at once. So, soon I started masking my presence on ICQ (monitoring it from lurk mode) and eventually I just stopped using it. I'm sure that's why I've never warmed to chat rooms, either- I can't focus on other tasks and participate in a chat room at the same time.
I find it's like reading. I don't tend to focus on reading until I eliminate other distractions first- the TV, the radio, the husband... OK, maybe not the husband :). But that was one thing that it took me awhile to adjust to living with John. When John walks into the living room he automatically turns on the TV. Doesn't matter if he's reading, working on the computer, gaming, the TV is "media wallpaper" in the background. That is so not me. For me the TV only goes on when I'm watching it and it's turned off if I choose to do something else because it distracts me.
But I find I digress...
So, yeah, I'm mellowing on the cyber learning curve thing. I'm finding that when I want the cyber technology it's there for me to learn, even if it's months or years after everyone else has done it. I eventually got around to getting on the Internet, building my first website, trying ICQ, learning about digital photography, starting a blog, learning to burn my own CDs. When the need finally hits, I manage to figure it out, meandering my own slow semi-cyber way. But I'll always be six steps behind and I always go through the wannabe cycles.
What is sending my cyber wannabe senses a-tingling these days? IPods. As in, oh, no, everybody seems to have one, should I get one, too? But part of me is also saying, heck, girl, you only bought your CD Walkman less than a year ago, do you -really- need an IPod? And the answer for now is "no", but no doubt two years along the line, when everyone else I know is into the next great cyber sonic fad I'll get the whim to buy an IPod.
QUESTION:
So, what is your technical personality like? Do you have to be on the cutting edge of all the new blinky techno-gadgets?
Do you feel behind the curve of your more techno-savvy friends? Are you quite content to be there? Do you cautiously let the first techno waves go through to see if they last and then invest in trends further down the road? Do you think the world is simply too full of techno-gadgets now? Do you thrive on multi-tasking or does you brain work more linearly?