I never realized that my love/hate relationship with the wonderful world of computers would draw so much attention and comment. While it is readily apparent that like most of you of a certain age, every advancement in this brave new world brings with it new challenges (for the younger set... opportunities) that in many cases are both intellectual and physical in nature.
For example, this whole area of "texting" that I dare not enter. The rage on television these days are the shows about "the living dead" aka zombies. Well in New York City we walk among them. They are the mindless souls walking our streets with their thumbs busy at work never looking where they are going. I guess it is better than having them behind the wheel of a car.
The last time I remember people walking with their heads pointed down instead of watching where they were going was that time before the pooper scooper law. At least then it was not only a good idea to do so, but an imperative.
If I were physically able to join these masses, I would not. It is hard enough to navigate when not involved in trying to Tweet (whatever that is) or make sure you are not run over by a car driven by a "texter." For me, not only looking at where I am going, but being aware of what I am looking at, is a form of self protection.
Now to the subjects of clouds. This is one of the great marketing ploys of the technology sector. When you say "clouds" to most people, they envision great puffy white puffs of cotton floating across the heavens.
From your comments, I find that there is a great deal of confusion in understanding what the term "in the clouds" means. Most people when they hear the term believe that their data is being stored somewhere in the sky; hopefully near Heaven. The mental picture they have looks something like this...
Unfortunately this is like a Grade B Hollywood scenario. How could any rational person think that cotton candy like this could contain all your data plus all the data stored in the clouds from all the PCs, MACS, and assorted other devices?
In this instance, fantasy is better than reality. Here my friends, is the actual "in the clouds" storage device. It sure does not look like anything you pictured! These clouds are not high up in the sky, but are really nothing more than servers located in a server farm. These farms are operated by large corporations such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. These organizations "rent" out space in their clouds to smaller organizations that in many cases allow you to store data "in the clouds."
Put simply, there is no way you would like to be in an airplane that had to fly through a cloud made up of servers.
You would be better off on an Italian cruise ship.
Before I leap into the New Year, I must thank those of you who took the time to write, call and even speak to me in person to discuss my efforts at writing a blog. Your support gave me hope that my efforts have legs and found an audience. I was really surprised and horrified to find that some of you look towards me as a tech savvy person.
That is really scary as this first posting of 2012 will prove.
The story started when I convinced myself that a "want" was really a "need." If I wasn't such a good salesperson, my leap into 2012 would have not been filled with angst; not to mention words of derision from those I hold near and dear.
On December 24th (the day before my birthday),I gave into my irrational mind and bought myself an iPAD2 and entered the wonderful world of APPLE. I must point out that one of the motivating factors in this purchase was reading the biography of Steve Jobs. I found him to be a marketing genius but less than an admirable human being. His zest for creating only perfect products and his love of combining style and function were motivating factors in my selection of the iPAD2.
I consummated the sale on the phone with absolutely the most knowledgeable salesperson I have ever encountered in my long history of dealing with tech people. In no time at all, all my questions were answered and my credit card number had been taken and approved by the Gods at Visa. I was told that due to the last minute shipments for the holiday, my order would arrive on December 28th.
Sure enough on the 28th, my new electronic gadget arrived. Fortunately, my daughter, Mara, was here with our Grandsons and she is an APPLE expert. I say fortunate as when I tore off the wrappings and lifted out my iPAD I was ready for immediate gratification. That was not to be the case. After a few frantic minutes, I was informed that APPLE products do not require a manual as you simply turn on the button. Sounded simple, but for the life of me I could not locate a button. The problem was solved as my resident expert hit me on the side of the head, and pointed out the button.
In no time at all, I was discovering the mysterious ways of my iPAD and gaining a false sense of confidence. Reality set in the next day when my daughter and grandsons returned home to Cambridge leaving me to my own devices. (That's a pun, in case you missed it) In no time at all, I was in serious trouble as the poor iPAD realized that it was in the hands of a total incompetent!
One of the reaons reasons I had classified this purchase as a "need' was that it would sync with some of the key programs I use in the KIDS program. Knowing myself and realizing that problems were my middle name, I had purchased a two year phone service contract. I made the call, explained what I wanted to do was sync the new iPAD with my PC. I was assured that this was a piece of cake and in no time at all it would be done. Two hours later, this piece of cake had gone stale and had to be handled by a higher ranked person.
I shivered as APPLE had morphed right before my eyes into MICROSOFT and I knew that I was now in one of the circles of HELL and sinking fast.
Apparently this sync is accomplished through iTUNES and this required me to update the program. Easy...not with me. This upgrade blew out my WINDOWS7 operating system. I called it a day, took a few Tylenol and tried to catch a few ZZZs.
The next day proved as fruitless and my "elevated" person told me that the problem was with Microsoft and there was nothing he could do. He did promise to call me back the next day and see if he was able to find a solution to the problem.
Needless to say I never heard from him again and from past experience I knew that the battle had just begun. I called my computer guru and explained the problem. He connected remotely and said he thinks he can help, but it might be more cost effective to get a new computer.
Now I must admit that in the past when faced with technological challenges I proved able to come up with a solution. I took out my trusty Laptop and in not time at all, and with no problem, installed the iTUNES update. I called APPLE service and the representative set up the sync protocol. We started the sync and I was assured that all would run smoothly.
HAH! APPLE man speaks with forked tongue!
I guess if you count the two days (and three false starts) immediate the sync actually was competed.
Now for most people that would be the end of this travail, but I am not most people. Returning to my PC, I was unable to download anything from the web including documents. By this time, my picture had been circulated to all APPLE personnel with a warning that this individual should be avoided at all costs.
My guy was of little help and his mantra seemed to sound vaguely something like "get a new computer." While my technical skills leave more than a little to be desired, I pride myself on being a good problem solver. I deconstructed every step that the APPLE person took in trying to download iTUNES and lo and behold the reason for the problem was so simple that I find it hard to think that the so called experts never thought of it.
He had me turn off Internet Explorer so that the program was off line. I never noticed as I do not use that browser, but all MICROSOFT programs do. I turned Internet Explorer back on and I was back in operation.
I am happy to report that all seems to be working well. I must remember not to be lulled into a false sense of security, as in my relationship with computers there is another shoe waiting to be dropped.
I will be sure to let you know when that happens.
Meanwhile, a Happy New Year to all.
