I suppose I was a fairly early adopter to technology, as I had a Commodore 64 in my house complete with Zork and the ability to find random BBS boards due to a friend who built his own computers and fixed them for friends. AOL came around and although I enjoyed being able to chat or construct Geocities websites with random gifs on them, I've always been fairly pedestrian when it comes to computer technology. My main interest was using Microsoft Word. Since writing poetry was my goal from middle school on, I used computers primarily for function, typing out my newest prose and printing it out so I was able to give them to friends or turn them in for school. I loved LiveJournal when it came out - an online journal? That was really my favorite of all the social media platforms, and then Myspace, Facebook, Twitter - I never really cared for Myspace or Facebook, although I've used/use both, but Twitter really interests me.
My brother is four and a half years younger than me, but a world apart. Where I never use my machines to their potential, he can build a computer from the ground up, design apps, create websites, and know exactly what needs to be done to make things happen technology-wise. I need a computer? I call him and ask his opinion. He always wants to create one and design it himself - I just ask where I can buy it. I'm a Mac person at heart, although my latest computer is a Toshiba, but he thinks they're dumb. He games and thinks Macs put limits on what you can do with a system. I think they're user friendly and pretty. Because I'm pedestrian. Technologically lazy.
My husband is five years older than me. He didn't grow up as fluent in computers as my brother and myself, but he is a fast learner. I used Apple computers to design our literary magazine in high school - he didn't even have a computer in his classroom. It's funny how in a span of a decade, my husband, myself, and my brother, one failed to grow up with computers, one had them but is still fairly distrusting of their use, and the last is an outright convert, who knows them inside and out. A lot can happen in ten years. But my husband decided to teach himself how to create websites and learn code, and when he would tell me about various aspects of the project he was completing, I would glaze over - couldn't take in the information. It's like when people try to explain fractions to me. I know how they work, I understand the basic concepts behind it, but I want to just slip away and read a book instead while they are waxing poetic about how to make fractions into decimals, or reduce them, or whatever the end result is. Telling me how websites work isn't something that I have enjoyed the theory behind. Creating them through basic programs, I find fun. Learning about how it all works is a bit difficult for me. I enjoy the trial and error of it.
That is not to say that I am afraid or resisting the aims of this class. I'm actually looking forward to it, although I think I will trip and stumble a bit getting to the finish line due to my errant nature when it comes to technology. But I'm looking forward to it, and I hope that I emerge with a newfound appreciation for it, and how the behind the scenes action works.
