It's All Techno Greek to Me!

A good part of writing is the research that goes into a story or article. I am glad to be writing in this day and age when information is at the tip of my fingers. I can stop writing, go to Google and ask a question, and get right back to writing, all in a matter of minutes. No more going to get an encyclopedia or making a trip to the library.

As part of Willard Manor, I had to look up a variety of items and dates. For instance,

1. When was the telephone first in general use in this country?

A. 1880s

B. 1860s

C. 1900s

2. How many slaves escaped via the Underground Railroad?

A. 10,000

  B. 100,000

  C. 300,000

3. Prohibition lasted from?

A. 1900 - 1941

B. 1915 - 1936

C. 1919 - 1933

4. The Amendment giving women the right to vote is which one?

A. 19^th

B. 20^th

C. 16^th

I also had to look up the years of WWI, the battles of the Civil War, the Great Depression, the Woodstock festival, how to grow marijuana, septic tanks, indoor plumbing, electricity, and how to demolish plaster walls, among a host of other things.

What amazes me, is that ALL of that information is available on line. Someone, somewhere, inputted all this information. I don’t care what question you type in Google, or any other search engine, someone has already asked that same question and the answer is there. I keep thinking I’m going to come up with a question no one has yet thought to ask, but I don’t.

Thirty years ago, I bought my son a Commodore 64 computer. It was amazing. He learned programming by writing three pages of instructions to make a ball bounce. I saw how much work went into that small task and I think of it every time I see a video on the computer or find an answer to any question I may now or any time in the future ever ask. Someone, somewhere, had to input that information. It blows my mind. But then, the idea of a radio and voices coming over a wire, or heaven forbid, a wireless radio, can equally blow my mind.

I have learned to accept that even though I don’t understand how all this works, I am very glad someone does and I can benefit from it. Take a techno geek to lunch today to thank him or her.

Quote of the Day: The computer is no better than its program. Elting Elmore Morison.