In 1990, when my wife and I moved to a new city so she could attend graduate school, we learned that if we wanted to buy a computer that would “keep pace” with the changing world of technology, we would have to spend $1,700 – $2,000, and after a couple of years it still needed additional memory. Last December when our computer crashed beyond repair, that is the same price range we had to search in to find a computer that would meet our needs. This parallels my experience with Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, with the cost being time rather than dollars. After spending four days in bed with a fever and a cold a little over a week ago, I am still playing catch-up in all three of my classes. While technology can be very inviting, and all the features of “Web 2.0” are easier to use in many ways than their predecessors, my workload has snowballed, leaving me feeling like Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie as he sprints to keep ahead of a giant ball that is about to flatten him. As I read my classmate Judy’s blog, her comment that she “certainly didn’t get as much done as [she] would have liked,” inspired this blog and the similarities noted herein. I enjoy the process of putting together a project, whether it be a website, a video, a slide presentation, or whatever. I want what I am working on to be something I am proud to show others. And the only way to do that is to devote the necessary time to it, a commodity that is clearly in short supply right now. I strive to utilize the time-management skills I learned in the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” workshop I attended years ago. But when I lose substantial time to illness, or other everyday annoyances that technology cannot fix, I have to switch back to off-the-cuff solutions to meet goals and deadlines. And today’s entry was no exception.
Until next time!
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3 comments:
The advantage of online technology is that I find I can use time that is convenient to me (such as early Sunday morning or late Monday evening) rather than a specific class time to get work done. About the cost of computers, I remember paying $1200 for a IBM PCjr. back in the early to mid '80s. My husband and I were so proud of it. It was our first major purchase. It had a cute little cartridge which I could use to progrram in BASIC and it possibly had 64k of memory.
Isn't it amazing that for $400 you can buy two solar-powered laptops in this program called "One Laptop for Every Child" (something like that)? Have you read about that? One goes to you, and the other goes to a child who is in poverty. I read about it in Newsweek a few weeks ago, and Mary Alice also mentioned it to me in my blog.I'd like to see one.
About time and sickness, perhaps we get sick, really sick, because of stressful living, which in turn, weakens our immune systems. Technology was supposed to do things more efficiently and therefore, create more time, but that has not been the case. I think it has made life much more stressful.
I find myself choosing health over meeting deadlines - for ex., going to bed and/or sleeping in when I feel a cold coming on. If it's at all possible, it pays off in the long run. And I swear by Airborne. Honestly, when I feel a cold coming, I drink that stuff, and it prevents the cold.
I'm sorry you were sick and glad you're better now. Everything will be all right. Don't fret too much about being behind or you'll get sick again.
Sorry to hear that you were sick. I was too and feel lucky to have gotten off more easily than you. No fever.
The pace of innovation is so rapid and I feel like it has influenced our lives, not necessarily for the better. Often it just seems as if the new tools push us and push us relentlessly. We have to step back and put them aside sometimes, just to reclaim sanity. Having said that, I'm off to see Michael Clayton. Good night!
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