Peace With Technology

Okay, I admit it, I'm up past my eyeballs in a new computer and things are not going as swimmingly as promised. Let's leave brands and operating systems out of this equation. My situation prompted a question for me.

Does technology foster peace?

Today's quote on iGoogle is by business wizard Peter Drucker, 'The computer is a moron.' Put another way, a computer is only as smart as its operator.

Computers are designed to make our lives easier. I remember the days of Selectric III typewriters with their Heaven-sent self-correcting ribbons. Prior to that, there was white tape and white-out.

The operating system in my computer is new to me, and I spent hours yesterday in Computer Purgatory on the telephone to India just trying to get my new computer to do what my old one did. Patient, generous souls put me on hold for twenty-plus minutes at a time to call the manufacturer of the operating system and find out how I could accomplish my mission.

What I wanted was pretty simple. Email addresses that complete themselves from my address book when I write emails. I got a workaround for that one, and the assurance that it wasn't just my computer that was at fault. A way to make the first page of a novel manuscript appear without a header. We found it but the path was treacherous. I spent the time on the phone blessing the diligence of the service workers who were temporarily mine.

I feel the same way about my computer as I do about the plumbing in my house. I just want it to work when I need it, and, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn how.