In the Old Days

When my grandparents referred to the old days, they were talking about a time 40 or more years earlier. My parents referred to the good old days as being 20 to 30 years ago. Now when we talk about the old days in relation to the computer, we mean five years ago, or six months ago. It makes me laugh when I refer to the old days of six months ago. Fifteen or 20 years ago is positively ancient history. The world wide web didn't even exist in those days, certainly not as we know it today.

Computer nerds where I worked came around and installed the first web browsers so we could explore the world wide web. I remember opening the program and staring at it. I had no idea what I was looking at, what to do, or why I would even want to. Today I can sit in my car and read my weblog on my telephone screen. I can travel up the coast, taking hundreds of photos with my phone, send them to the my service provider's website, and download them to my computer when I return home. I imagine us riding along in the car, a little stream of ones and zeros trailing out behind and up into the sky on their way to the website.

This evening, in preparation for moving into my new studio, I have acquired a second computer to use here at the house. I am unwilling to disconnect the old computer and take it to the studio until I'm sure that I can access the internet, the web, my email with the new computer. Having proper access is now more important than having a new computer. Although, I'm forced to a new computer to take advantage of the new software that's become available.

So the preparations go on, slowly, but by the time the wise men appear, I will be at least better prepared psychologically to meet the new year.