Experience stands aside for technology

We live in an age where the young and inexperienced is seen as the wise ones and those who have a lifetime of experience to draw from are written off as geriatric has-beens.

The ever-changing dependence of society on new technology, and a failure to make free technological training and education equally available to the old, as it is available to the young, may be to blame for this situation.

There is no supervision and guidance from elders in this world where young adolescents and children make decisions that change the fate of nations.

An example of this is the age of company directors, where people, with as little as one or two years of field experience, influence the decision-making processes. The youth controls the moral code behind the information technology, either on the Internet or television.

This happens especially when racial laws force a company to choose its employees by the grade of their color rather than their experience.

Many wars in developing countries are being are initiated by the youth.

Many older people, in countries where free computer training is not available, simply lag behind when old ways of communication falls away. In the absence of experience, financial reward becomes the only measure-stick for implementation of decisions and policies.

Recent examples are:

Poisonous substances added to baby foods and milk products to indirectly increase sales.

Decisions are made regarding the destruction of our natural heritage for a short-term financial reward. People cannot know what they are giving up if they do not have the experience, or wisdom to know what once was.

Violence influencing the youth can be directly linked to violent video games and television programs.

Popular soap operas are based on immorality, dishonesty and violence. People grow up to regard the sick fanatics of immature minds as the norm.

Perhaps it is time to recognize the need to empower mature citizens alongside the youth. The youth can teach old people how to use new technology so that they have a database of experience to tap into.

A fishing vessel may have all the weather reports and radar equipment on board to know when, how and where to bring in the biggest catch.

An experienced fisherman relies firstly on his five senses and uses electronics as a backup.

Geriatric dilemma 23-09-2008

Geriatric dilemma 23-09-2008

One does not swap an old diamond for a new pearl.

At my age life is so short. It changes so quickly. One does not get an opportunity to appreciate the tools of modern comfort that passes one by, like the various electronic equipments, that goes out of fashion before we can figure out how to use all it's functions.

The diamond I refer to is my old computer.

Things like, flash drives (What is that?), blue tooth and I think there is a red eye somewhere on this electronic monster too baffles me. I read about it in the computer magazines, but I have not used them yet. This blue-toothed red-eyed monster is now also using an ipod, which, in my mind, is like a commode used by a sick person.

It is all too complicated for my geriatric mind to grasp. Unfortunately, upgrading is imminent. To utilize the latest features in both Google and Yahoo, I have to upgrade. Previously I remained contented with the older versions of the new applications, but now that my husband was forced to buy a new camera after his old one got stolen, I have to upgrade. His camera pulls it nose up to my geriatric electronic conglomerate.

Old people like to use things that work and provide the service they require. Young people like bigger and better.

I had this little windows 98 computer setup for since 1999. Together we anxiously watched the Y2 crash turning into a tjookie. Midnight 2000 came and gone and my computer, and everyone else’s, never blinked a screen.

When the memory got full, I added another 40g memory. When I needed to create web pages, I added windows 2000 professional to run concurrently with my Lotus. Every time when I updated my cameras, I gained more editing software.

I transferred and copied all my work from my 1997 computer, which had on it much older work. Work that was downloaded to a tape drive from my first Amstrad 64 (1985).

Since 1999 I fed this computer daily.

It is my photo album.

Will I get the same value for money in one package – Windows Vista on the cheapest laptop on the market?

My Old Faithful runs Office 2000 Professional, Lotus, Imaging and scanning software, a scanner, old cheap dot matrix printer, and the host of other uploads that makes my computer input enjoyable.

I love the ease of data manipulation in Lotus, which is the word processor I use for my drafts. I then transfer the data to office prior to posting it.

The two packages work together on my computer like twins.

I am like an old person clinging onto the old VCR instead of using the new home theater system.

I guess the reason why I do not have the much needed computer equipment is not so much because I do not have the money to get one, it is because I dread the change. I dread giving up my good old friend, my little small screen 98 slow computer.

I am used to surfing the net and knitting cardigans at the same time.

I am used to pop into the kitchen and make a cup of coffee while my photos download to Photobucket.

Should I swap this old diamond for a new pearl?

Can a new pearl shine like an old diamond?