The frustrations of computers

Computers are wonderful – and also very frustrating. I’ve been using computers now for about twenty years – I remember with fondness the old Commodore 64 I first used while teaching back in the late 1980s. Teachers could go on a roster to take a computer home for the weekend so we could familiarize ourselves with the programmes. It would take two people lugging a huge carry basket to the car in order to transport it. Heady days indeed. Now we think nothing of carrying a lightweight laptop anywhere.

Computers have transformed my writing life. I certainly would not like to return to using a typewriter. I still have one lurking somewhere in the garage; the ink on the ribbon probably dried up a decade ago. (Can you still buy ribbons? Can you still buy typewriters for that matter?) I find typing on a computer keyboard far easier than the kluncky old typewriter. Editing is so much easier too. Printing out one’s work is simply the press of a button. Aaaah – we have it so easy these days.

That’s when they work.

I’ve been having some massive computer problems over the last two months. Well – internet access problems to be more precise. I haven’t been able to access the internet for all that time, except for two brief periods. I’ve had to rely on my wife’s computer to do basic things like read my email. Finally today I managed to solve the problem. An upgrade to my Norton’s Anti virus software was the culprit. Absolutely crippled my internet connection. Not happy. My son (the techie of the family) talked me step by step through the solution. I’ve now installed a completely new anti virus programme and all is now back to normal. Needless to say, Norton is now a nasty word in our household.