Kind of a 'lo-tech' guy I am, I guess

Sitting across the home office from me is my 1994 vintage Macintosh LC630. It sits there in mute disdain for my disloyalty as I work on my little PC laptop. The laptop is my concession to the modern era. It was cheap; it’s small and light enough that I was able to lug it around Europe with me; and it does many wonderful things. My only quarrel with it is that it’s not a Mac.

The other day I had to fire up my old Mac – it started like a charm; like an expensive vintage car. And when I finished finding what I needed on one of its files, I shut if off. That was it. I just hit the ‘shut-down’ button and ‘poof’, it ceased functioning. Immediately. With my PC and that whole Bill Gates Windows thing I shut down, and then I wait, and then I go and get a coffee, and then I go and complete the crossword, and I would probably have time to go and make lingering love, and when I come back, the laptop is part way through the shutting off process. Why is that?

I don’t know why that is. I am a fiercely non-tech person– not ‘anti-tech’, I might add; if I sincerely need a bit of technology, I will happily get it. I only have two criteria for a computer: Does it work and do what it’s supposed to? Does it not lose stuff? So, don’t be asking me about capacities and megabytes and that sort of crap. I haven’t a clue. I’m not even sure what those things are.

Sometimes I do feel like a luddite putz. I asked a friend the other day just exactly what was an iPod? I mean, I knew it was some sort of recording device, but that was about it. Oh yeah, and it’s made by Macintosh, so it’s probably good. Anyway, she explained all about it, with much enthusiasm and told me how she was going to get a new one with many more ‘features.’ Interesting. I have no desire to get one. I have a nice stereo, and a CD player in my car. Why do I need more? I know I am doing little to bolster the consumer economy with my lack of electronic enthusiasm but I’m afraid I’m of the antediluvian attitude that tells me if the stuff I’ve got does what I want it to do, then why get more? The only reason I’m using this PC is that Mac laptops cost a fortune (good stuff always does), and my old one was too limited for what I needed.

As for satisfying my need for more tech knowledge – I have a young guy to do that for me. He’s great and I really like working with him. He maintains my website, and if I am doing other website writing, I get him to handle the tech and design ends. It’s a good partnership.

I entered the ‘computer age’ way back in early 1984 when our newspaper got ‘computerized’. The aged behemoths were known as Compugraphics (similar to the one pictured above). They were quite terrible. They had a black screen with white printing that flashed in an irritating manner, and probably did untold damage to one’s vision. They also crashed, losing everything, almost constantly. They boasted no such esoterica as ‘spell-check’ or any of the other niceties we’ve come to cherish. This was long before Internet connectability, so you couldn’t even play solitaire or surf dirty sites if the day got dreary at work.

But, one thing we could do, though only a few of us were wise to it, was how to tap into anybody else’s site with no password needed. This led to a bit of a scandal. One of the editors in the chain was, we discovered, having a very torrid affair with a very young, very pretty female reporter. And, the two of them would merrily post back-and-forth in the most graphic details what they had done, what they liked, and what they were going to do at their next encounter. The editor, by the way, was extremely married and his wife had just had a baby. Anyway, we blithely read all this naughty stuff with impunity; I am now ashamed to say.

Anyway, ultimately the publisher got wind of the naughtiness afoot and essentially gave both editor and reporter their walking papers (it was a more puritanical time).

But, you like happy endings? Eventually she fled to Australia. He followed her (post-divorce); they married and, last I heard they are still living happily ever after.

Anyway, back to tech. In early 1994 I was exposed to my first Mac. I was hooked in an instant. Compared to the Compugraphics, this was like going from a horsecart to a Mercedes. A few months later I bought my own. That’s the one sitting across the office. And despite my non-tech nature, I haven’t the heart to get rid of it. It’s not just a soulless bit of electronics, but part of my history.