I liked my old computer. I really did. I liked Windows XP, the full-sized keyboard, and floppy disks. I didn't like it when it got that virus that almost crashed the hard drive. Fortunately my computer repairman managed to fix it, and even find some extra space on the drive. By then I'd decided, though, to buy a new machine, a cute little laptop. The desktop was almost 4 years old, ancient in computer years, and the drive was almost full. It was time.
I didn't really like the laptop at first. I didn't like Windows 7. It's vastly different from the various Windows systems I've used in the past. I've been computer literate for 30 years. I've worked on IBM and Univac mainframes, and my first PC had to be booted up every day with a 5 1/4 inch floppy. I'm used to change in the computer world. But I was also used to things being done a certain way, and working with files in a certain way. The keyboard feels different. The screen looks different. And I sure as hell don't like the touch pad. Frankly, I missed my old machine. Only the facts that my office is in a renovated front porch, which isn't too well insulated, and that it's been freaking cold, kept me from using it much. About all I did was get my data out to switch to the laptop.
A little over a month has passed, and I love the laptop. It's the best purchase I've made lately, even better than the iPhone. I've gotten used to Windows 7, and the purchase of a mouse makes life infinitely easier. Plus it's portable. I can sit in my room, nice and warm, and do my work. I've converted my files from Wordstar, a word processing program that was cutting edge in the 80's, and I've been having fun getting them ready for epublication. The only problem is that it's not hooked up to a printer yet, and I need hard copies of my manuscripts. That meant returning to the old machine.
It took forever to boot up. The monitor screen is gorgeous, but it was cluttered with all these icons. Copying files from old floppies to the machine meant opening screens and minimizing them, again and again. So did copying from the machine to the thumb drive. Plus, it was just so cold in the office. OK, I told myself. This is a lot better than typing a manuscript on an electric typewriter and then bringing the pages to a copy shop, as I once did. A click here, a click there, and the files were copied in no time. Still, compared to the file handling in Windows 7, it was clunky.
Then there was the printing. I remember now why I always allowed a full day for printing a manuscript for submission. It takes time to print a 300 plus page book. Plus something was always going wrong. The paper would get jammed, or, more than once, I'd run out of ink. Today I shut the printer off for a moment, and now it won't turn back on. Aargh! What a pain. It was wonderful when I was able to send the books in by email.
Last week I sent a manuscript electronically to an electronic publisher, and voila! Instant book. I searched for images on stock photo sites, and, what do you know? I had a book cover. I'm playing with 3D software to create "people" for future book covers. OK, I could probably have done this with the old machine, but somehow this new little computer, with its amazing capabilites, has me trying new things, and loving it. I've come a long way, baby.
30 years ago I learned computer processing on a "mini computer", mini in the sense that it filled a small classroom, not a huge computer room. I don't know what it had for memory, or how large its disk drive was. I do know that it used a text editor, not word processing, and that it had no graphics. The screen was green, with white printing. Today I have a machine that's not even 2 inches thick, and is many times more powerful. Someday I'll probably be enthusing over a different computer, and wondering how I ever survived with my old one. Not yet, though. These are the good old days, folks, and I'm enjoying every minute.
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