Techie Granny

 I admit it - I’m old! I remember telephone party lines and when mobile phones were so big you needed two people to lift it (okay, that’s a slight exaggeration).  I had just gotten used to the phenomena that I could send a paper around the world via a fax machine, when technology escalated  beyond that.

Giving up my word processor for a computer was agony, like an old friend I felt comfortable with. Embarrassed to admit I didn’t know the first thing about my new computer, I did what any intelligent person would do. I bought a teaching video. Perfect idea, except that instructor spoke a foreign language: icon, control panel, password protected, desktop, start menu (apparently I would be able to order food from my computer); so many words I knew nothing about. If my computer contained those things, I had no idea how to get to them. When he mentioned search engine, I knew I had bought the wrong video.  I watched them unpack my computer, and it didn’t include a separate engine.

 When everyone owned a cell phone, including kids, I declared “I don’t want or need one!” So - my first one was large enough that I could easily find it whenever I absentmindedly dropped it into my purse. Then I discovered those special pockets on purses are for cell phones.  Eventually I learned to use those little pockets. Don’t ask me how many calls I missed trying to find my phone in the bottom of my big purse.

 Before I got a cell phone, I noticed whenever I was in a restaurant most people didn’t talk to each other, they talked on their phones. I wanted to be in the groove (do we still use that word?), so my husband explained the “family plan”.  Well, I certainly belonged to the family - in fact, they wouldn’t even be here if not for me. I didn’t need a cyber guru or teaching video to tell me how to produce a family.

 I grudgingly gave up writing real letters for corresponding via emails, wisely learning to be guarded with my words because once it’s in cyberspace, God only knows who might read it. There’s also a blackhole sucking up some emails never to be seen again, like those socks missing from the dryer.

 Getting a phone with internet access rocked my world, but I soon became disillusioned and called my husband.  “This phone is possessed! It vibrated all day, but when I try to answer, no one is there.”

 Alright, no one told me the vibration meant I was getting an email. Definitely not my fault! These things should be clearly explained.

 I love texting! That way if I’m crabby or don’t like someone, there’s no voice to give it away. I never text while driving; I’m not that coordinated anyway.

 I do social networking and have over 500 friends there. My family was concerned that I have friends I don’t really know, so my grandson went into my profile to make my phone number and address inaccessible. Hm! It had been accessible to people?

Still not doing twitter, though., and I’m not a fan of IM either. Imagine being able to see someone elsewhere in the world via Skype.

Ebooks? As for now, I still love to hold a "real" book in my hands