So you remember a few days ago, when I said a Generous Reader had sent me a free tablet – a tablet computer has been on my want list for years, I confess, though I could never bring myself to spend that kind of money on a shiny of that sort even if I had the money – and then complained that the sound didn’t work?
Well, I’ve used the thing for ebooks since then – it’s very useful for ebooks – and then last night I was idly fiddling with it and learned that for absolutely no apparent reason the sound works now. No, I didn’t do anything that could possibly have fixed it. It’s just fixed.
It’s hard to accept that once upon a time – like, back in the mid-eighties – I was the guy in our department who set up new computers. Because I was the ex-mechanic, and machines did not frighten me, and computers were a lot more like cars back then than they are now. They had parts. Plug in the new board, power it up, type in some DOS, and you’re good to go. But I’m like a baby in a leopard cage when it comes to swiping at pictures on a touch screen. So this is what it means to get old…
In a very real way, cars these days are still very similar to computers, just in a different way. Shiny boxes of magic where things happen shrouded in mystery and plastic.
It’s possibly significant that last summer I sat behind the wheel of my first new-model car in fifteen years, and I couldn’t figure that out, either. Not how to fix it, just how to start it.
“So this is what it means to get old…” No, I don’t really think so Joel. I believe that’s what it means to become a hermit and then let the world move on without you.
Enjoy your low-energy-consumption talking movies, and thanks to that generous and thoughtful reader!
You’re more daring and “with it” than I am, figuring out how to use that tablet. As for cars, this fall we traded in our 1999 Jeep Cherokee(no bells or whistles) for a 2012 Kia Sportage. Starting it was no problem, but it took me 2 weeks to figure out how to find/use the radio. It has bells and whistles that I will never use or even try to figure out – blue tooth, GPS, cruise control, ways to talk on the phone and God only knows what else.
So pat yourself on the back for being able to use your new shiny and enjoy the heck out of it.
Here’s a funny. I bought a new Saturn in 2001. It has a radio, but I can’t hear so I don’t use it. The radio has a clock display. I got it set once, when I had the owner’s manual available, but never bothered with it much since I wear a watch. In later years, after retirement, I didn’t wear a watch always and wanted to set the clock. Couldn’t find the manual, and had absolutely no idea how to do it. Back to the watch.
This summer, the boy who mowed my yard mentioned that the time was wrong on that clock when he moved my car to mow under it. I told him I had no idea how to set it, so he poked and prodded for a few seconds and had it done. I was grateful, but I can’t remember the last time I even looked at it. One of these days they will change automatically with the time change, like the computers do. Or do the new cars already do that? Assuming we don’t get rid of the damned time change, of course.
Anyway, the clock in the car should be at the correct time at least half the year now. LOL
Maybe it was just good karma that started up your audio.
“type in some DOS”
Yes, that brings back memories. DOS was this whole world of magic incantations. Us mere mortals knew the basic magic words like “copy *.* a:”, but a real wizard had secret knowledge that we couldn’t even imagine. Today we have to search through obscure, ever-changing directories to make things happen, so we still end up needing the wizards.
I rented a car in Seattle a couple of years ago. The “key” was in the fob on the “keyring”, you didn’t actually insert it into the car. It had a pushbutton start and I couldn’t figure it out. Finally after 10-15 minutes of yelling at the car I tucked tail and went and asked. Had to step on the brake while pushing the button…. Sigh