Have you ever been defeated by a computer or device upgrade?
My husband and I are always entertained by members of the older generations who don’t handle email, cell phones, or the cut-copy-paste function very well, and we commonly serve as resident technical support.
Well, judge not lest you be judged… Recent computer upgrades at work have humbled me. I’d like to take my new computer, with its somewhat new operating system, and fling it out the window — defenestrate it, if you please. I imagine my response would be even more vehemently frustrated if I were actually receiving a work machine at the forefront of technology — this OS is at least a generation or two behind, but it’s still far superior to my previous machine, not-so-affectionately dubbed the Dell Dinosaur. (Don’t confuse this Dell with my novel’s Del…)
Just when you think you know where to find a particular function, just when you’re comfortable with the file structures on your machine, someone decides on a “better” way, so all of us have to spend a few weeks relearning the new system.
It’s a telling reminder how dependent we are on our machines and the placement of all the buttons and toolbars on our screens. ‘Cause when that OS changes, buddy, you’ve got trouble. The unfamiliarity is one matter — I can locate everything I need. However, I keep having to repeat mouse strokes to get what I want because I forget to click in the right spot, and then I have to start all over. In a couple weeks, after much under-breath cursing, I’m sure I’ll prefer this new system over the old one, but, for now, I know how all the folks feel who just don’t understand that new-fangled technology.