Post by aniram on Jan 29, 2008 10:30:46 GMT 10
another random article by col...
RAM? Bam, no thank you, ma'am
COMPUTERS will catch on. You mark my words. They will be the basis for the managing of 99 per cent of all technology in regards to the world economy and social order.
But what if we didn't have a computer for a day? Or two days. Or a week. Or a month. Or . . . or not at all!
Could you survive?
Could you justify not having one. I mean we obviously need them to conduct business and run the highly efficient public transport network and predict weather patterns, but what about the home computer?
Could you get through the day if you didn't check your email, or Facebook, or Crikey, or "stupid cat stunts" on YouTube?
What if someone said they will email you that letter, the party details, the wedding photos, the address of the North Melbourne Footy Club "Stay in Melb" campaign, the golden aeroplane money-making scheme website, or the price of the limited edition badly drawn sort of painted figures of the Australian cricket team in a circular design printed signature thingo at wierdcricketmerch, and you didn't have an email address?
Would you feel left out, or old fashioned, or out of touch?
Just try it. When you tell the person you don't have an email address. Check out the facial expression when they realise you are serious.
They'll probably give you a double-take look and call you something that ends with "latte drinker" or "living in the dark ages" or, "I'm not sure we can be friends any more".
As long as it doesn't inconvenience others, of course. If you don't have a computer or choose not to use one for a week as an experiment, you can't expect other people to be inconvenienced by that decision.
It's a bit like those people, who for various reasons, have never got their driver's licence.
They may have environmental or social concerns.
They may be making the whole country a little safer by not driving full stop.
They may have just never got around to it.
And that is all completely fine. And they are still perfectly nice people.
But don't expect everybody else to drive you around all the time and go out of their way to pick you up or drop you home because you can't drive.
In these days of designated drivers, the driving-challenged members of the community always get to drink however much they like and get driven home at the end of the night!
I'm sure we have all been in those icky situations where the dinner party (I go to hundreds a week) is breaking up and the person without a licence says in a slightly affected way "well, I better call a taxi then unless someone is going near my place."
Or a little like my esteemed former comedic colleague who, early in our partnership, resisted getting a mobile phone.
I was placed in a very awkward and petty game where I would be receiving messages from his wife, on my mobile, to get him to call her, but I was reluctant to pass on the messages to him, as he was gaining advantage from the mobile technology that he was refusing to embrace!
I know.
I know.
Very petty and juvenile.
So.
See how you go. Instead of emailing someone, ring them up and have a chat.
Instead of looking up something on Wikipedia, walk down to the local library and look up the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
Or my personal childish humour favourite, the Funk and Wagnals.
Write something down on a piece of paper and see if you can still do running writing without getting severe wrist or hand cramp after a couple of sentences.
Colin Lane is a comedian and actor
RAM? Bam, no thank you, ma'am
COMPUTERS will catch on. You mark my words. They will be the basis for the managing of 99 per cent of all technology in regards to the world economy and social order.
But what if we didn't have a computer for a day? Or two days. Or a week. Or a month. Or . . . or not at all!
Could you survive?
Could you justify not having one. I mean we obviously need them to conduct business and run the highly efficient public transport network and predict weather patterns, but what about the home computer?
Could you get through the day if you didn't check your email, or Facebook, or Crikey, or "stupid cat stunts" on YouTube?
What if someone said they will email you that letter, the party details, the wedding photos, the address of the North Melbourne Footy Club "Stay in Melb" campaign, the golden aeroplane money-making scheme website, or the price of the limited edition badly drawn sort of painted figures of the Australian cricket team in a circular design printed signature thingo at wierdcricketmerch, and you didn't have an email address?
Would you feel left out, or old fashioned, or out of touch?
Just try it. When you tell the person you don't have an email address. Check out the facial expression when they realise you are serious.
They'll probably give you a double-take look and call you something that ends with "latte drinker" or "living in the dark ages" or, "I'm not sure we can be friends any more".
As long as it doesn't inconvenience others, of course. If you don't have a computer or choose not to use one for a week as an experiment, you can't expect other people to be inconvenienced by that decision.
It's a bit like those people, who for various reasons, have never got their driver's licence.
They may have environmental or social concerns.
They may be making the whole country a little safer by not driving full stop.
They may have just never got around to it.
And that is all completely fine. And they are still perfectly nice people.
But don't expect everybody else to drive you around all the time and go out of their way to pick you up or drop you home because you can't drive.
In these days of designated drivers, the driving-challenged members of the community always get to drink however much they like and get driven home at the end of the night!
I'm sure we have all been in those icky situations where the dinner party (I go to hundreds a week) is breaking up and the person without a licence says in a slightly affected way "well, I better call a taxi then unless someone is going near my place."
Or a little like my esteemed former comedic colleague who, early in our partnership, resisted getting a mobile phone.
I was placed in a very awkward and petty game where I would be receiving messages from his wife, on my mobile, to get him to call her, but I was reluctant to pass on the messages to him, as he was gaining advantage from the mobile technology that he was refusing to embrace!
I know.
I know.
Very petty and juvenile.
So.
See how you go. Instead of emailing someone, ring them up and have a chat.
Instead of looking up something on Wikipedia, walk down to the local library and look up the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
Or my personal childish humour favourite, the Funk and Wagnals.
Write something down on a piece of paper and see if you can still do running writing without getting severe wrist or hand cramp after a couple of sentences.
Colin Lane is a comedian and actor
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