I live in a constant love-hate relationship with my computer & cell-phone. I veer (ecstatically/frantically) between: "I could never do all these fantastic word-processing/research/writing/document -and-video retrieval/email-corresponding sleights-of-hand" AND "I absolutely detest this horrible, incomprehensible, slow, idiotic computer and its evil companions Windows/Microsoft Word and Google/Yahoo/Netflix." Sometimes these two poles align perfect in a kind of computer Perfect Storm and I go bonkers. Alas, I am a kind of odd Old Dog who turns cartwheels over some of the new tricks and runs screaming (or howling) from others. Why should you, Professor Reich, be any different? Alas, you are not young enough to exist happily in this world but, take heart, you can find your way to books, dvds and cds (or LPs) and old-timey movie houses and be contently An Old Coot.
Lanae; I hear you loud and clearly! My gosh you have voiced my thoughts that until now I never knew could be verbalized! Wow! Recently I was gently admonished by a friend at the public library (where I have volunteered for nearly seventeen years) who said “why do you borrow all those old movies? I like the new ones.” I had no answer except to say that “These films had a moral to the story in each and every one. There isn’t cheap and rawdy humor in them. Plus women had backbones and men were depicted as gentle and kind.” My friend looked at me with a smile and said “You are right.”
Yes! We of a certain (er) maturity have to commiserate with Professor Reich. I alternate rather dramatically between blessing and cursing my computer and sometimes do both simultaneously. I do a lot of writing for one project or another (right now I am writing a book on music performance during the pandemic era) and I quite frankly can't imagine how--in olden times--I used to pull out a fresh yellow legal pad and write my latest study (even a PhD thesis) long-hand (there used to be something called cursive writing (long-hand) and there isn't anymore. This brings sighs of admiration from the younger set who--for the life of them--don't know how I can do such a thing. It was called penmanship and you had to do it decently by 5th grade.) Anyway, once I finished the long-hand version, I would type it on a typewriter...if I made a typing error there was white stuff you smeared on your paper so you could type over your error. (Can you imagine doing this for a 400 page document---it would take hours and hours. And it did.) Now the thoughts flow easily, sources are accessible on the internet, even contacts with other writers and researchers, a snap.
The downside--or one of them--is that I occasionally receive word from the Word program that they are "upgrading" my computer screen. What this means is that the icons they have selected for me move about and take up other spaces on the computer...so the time I used to spend writing stuff in long-hand and then covering errors with White Stuff is now more than consumed hunting for where the icons have gone and have moved to. Sometimes entire blocks of them are moved from one inconvenient location to another even more inconvenient. Instead of hunting and pecking on a typewriter keyboard, I am hunting and pecking at various rows or columns of icons, trying to find the one I need and knew...
There was also something comforting about using the old system, I guess because you got to feel in control of the process--and may very well have been, Now, there is some sort of AI brainless master-mind...something music scholars used lately to create a genuine Beethoven 10th symphony that sounds incredibly like Beethoven's 5th....right down to the da-da-da-dummmm. I like being on top of things and I like the ease of writing stuff (I think). It's just that it does have its downsides....as Professor Reich discovered.
I read somewhere that, with every single advance on the technical front, the production of books and literature actually declines...that was (in the article I read) the reason why Augustine, BIshop of Hippo, wrote 8000 separate manuscripts (on religious subjects) and was the most prolific writer in the world and, since his time, with every advance, things have gone downhill. The rate we're going, it may come down to one book a year which will be okay as by then people won't know how to read. However, one can't be a Luddite so we just have to make peace with the high-tech and continue to bless and curse the stuff. Small comfort but we do not live in an age of comfort, what with one thing or another.
I never do today what I can put off until tomorrow!
It’s ok, we still love you!
Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
Never put off for tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely. ? 😉
It's already 8th here. (NZ) .. Gonna open & tell everyone what's inside. :P
You are so fortunate! (Not to mention Professor’s liking this comment.)
I live in a constant love-hate relationship with my computer & cell-phone. I veer (ecstatically/frantically) between: "I could never do all these fantastic word-processing/research/writing/document -and-video retrieval/email-corresponding sleights-of-hand" AND "I absolutely detest this horrible, incomprehensible, slow, idiotic computer and its evil companions Windows/Microsoft Word and Google/Yahoo/Netflix." Sometimes these two poles align perfect in a kind of computer Perfect Storm and I go bonkers. Alas, I am a kind of odd Old Dog who turns cartwheels over some of the new tricks and runs screaming (or howling) from others. Why should you, Professor Reich, be any different? Alas, you are not young enough to exist happily in this world but, take heart, you can find your way to books, dvds and cds (or LPs) and old-timey movie houses and be contently An Old Coot.
Which is better, to be an old coot or codger? I'm drifting toward curmudgeon myself.
😆
Lanae; I hear you loud and clearly! My gosh you have voiced my thoughts that until now I never knew could be verbalized! Wow! Recently I was gently admonished by a friend at the public library (where I have volunteered for nearly seventeen years) who said “why do you borrow all those old movies? I like the new ones.” I had no answer except to say that “These films had a moral to the story in each and every one. There isn’t cheap and rawdy humor in them. Plus women had backbones and men were depicted as gentle and kind.” My friend looked at me with a smile and said “You are right.”
Yes! We of a certain (er) maturity have to commiserate with Professor Reich. I alternate rather dramatically between blessing and cursing my computer and sometimes do both simultaneously. I do a lot of writing for one project or another (right now I am writing a book on music performance during the pandemic era) and I quite frankly can't imagine how--in olden times--I used to pull out a fresh yellow legal pad and write my latest study (even a PhD thesis) long-hand (there used to be something called cursive writing (long-hand) and there isn't anymore. This brings sighs of admiration from the younger set who--for the life of them--don't know how I can do such a thing. It was called penmanship and you had to do it decently by 5th grade.) Anyway, once I finished the long-hand version, I would type it on a typewriter...if I made a typing error there was white stuff you smeared on your paper so you could type over your error. (Can you imagine doing this for a 400 page document---it would take hours and hours. And it did.) Now the thoughts flow easily, sources are accessible on the internet, even contacts with other writers and researchers, a snap.
The downside--or one of them--is that I occasionally receive word from the Word program that they are "upgrading" my computer screen. What this means is that the icons they have selected for me move about and take up other spaces on the computer...so the time I used to spend writing stuff in long-hand and then covering errors with White Stuff is now more than consumed hunting for where the icons have gone and have moved to. Sometimes entire blocks of them are moved from one inconvenient location to another even more inconvenient. Instead of hunting and pecking on a typewriter keyboard, I am hunting and pecking at various rows or columns of icons, trying to find the one I need and knew...
There was also something comforting about using the old system, I guess because you got to feel in control of the process--and may very well have been, Now, there is some sort of AI brainless master-mind...something music scholars used lately to create a genuine Beethoven 10th symphony that sounds incredibly like Beethoven's 5th....right down to the da-da-da-dummmm. I like being on top of things and I like the ease of writing stuff (I think). It's just that it does have its downsides....as Professor Reich discovered.
I read somewhere that, with every single advance on the technical front, the production of books and literature actually declines...that was (in the article I read) the reason why Augustine, BIshop of Hippo, wrote 8000 separate manuscripts (on religious subjects) and was the most prolific writer in the world and, since his time, with every advance, things have gone downhill. The rate we're going, it may come down to one book a year which will be okay as by then people won't know how to read. However, one can't be a Luddite so we just have to make peace with the high-tech and continue to bless and curse the stuff. Small comfort but we do not live in an age of comfort, what with one thing or another.
You going to send it again? Some of us probably need that!
No biggie! You sir are a gentleman! The most important thing I taught my 3 sons to be.
I am not good with techno stuff either.
I LOVE you, Robert Reich. You are so human - not to mention an inspiration to all of us.
Touché
I’m really enjoying this parasocial relationship.
I believe the technical term is cybersocial.
Ok. And welcome to my world! 😊
Aaah, the humanity! Lol
Nice! I had this picture of you getting up at 4am to work on these.
Me too. Except my 4am is 1am in the West so the fine Professor is working in the wee hours…
Must be getting old. I have similar problems!
He IS NOT getting old. He gets younger every time we see him.
Quite alright. Got your back!
I promise not to read it until tomorrow! :)