Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The Modern Era

By C. LaRene Hall

People my age have a hard time keeping up with all the modern conveniences that come our way. I’m eternally grateful for my microwave oven, my cell phone (sometimes), cable television, and mostly my computer. I don’t miss the typewriter at all. The only real problem I have is it seems that I just finish learning how to do something on my computer, and there’s a new concept or gadget to buy.

You will be surprised to learn that I have no idea what an iPod or MP3 player is, so of course, I don’t know how to work one. I guess I have no idea what I’m missing. Those who know me aren’t surprised that I haven’t tried them out yet. I’m not in any hurry, but I’ll get on board soon.

One thing I really hate is wearing headphones in my ears. I never use the Bluetooth that came with my cell phone. I guess if I learned to use it properly, I would probably love it. And I do agree that electronic gadgets are great, if you learn to use them.

I do know that without a computer I wouldn’t want to try writing a novel. Can you imagine how hard it must have been twenty years ago to write? If you changed your mind, or decided you wanted to add something to your story back on page 10 you would almost have to start over. I’m a fast typist but I’m sure I would have given up after retyping my story a couple of times. Today all I have to do is go back and add what I want and the computer renumbers all the pages and pushes everything where it belongs.

One of the features I really like is the find key. If I decide I want to change a name all I have to do is search for it and hit a replace all button and in the blink of an eye it’s the way I want it. Yes, the life of a writer in today’s world has it easy compared to those a few years ago. Aren’t we lucky?

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