The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group So .... What Do You Actually Do With a Computer? Bob Thomas |
My next door neighbour once said to me "I want to learn the computer", to which I responded, "What do you plan to do with one?" "Don't know, really", she said "I just want to learn to use it". It transpired that she really didn't understand what a computer can do, or more importantly what she could do with a computer. She is now on her third computer, all hand-me-downs from her children, and as far as I can tell each computer has been a total waste of space. This might seem strange to the seasoned user, but there are many people who really struggle with finding practical uses for their computers.
Whilst I applaud and encourage people's desire to "learn to use one", I always feel that it helps if you have some general idea of what you might use a computer for if you had one - after all, you wouldn't get behind the wheel of a car unless you had some idea of where you were going. Computers are not all that different.
As the owner of one of the worst memories one might not wish for, I use my computer as a substitute for my poor memory. Unlike my failing brain, I can store literally thousands of pieces of information on my computer, and know that they will all still be there long after the brain cells have fallen by the wayside. The following is a summary of some of the uses I have found for my computers, and maybe somewhere in here you might find a new idea or two of your own.
Word Processing Spreadsheets and More
Probably the most basic use for a computer is as a glorified typewriter, and some people are happy enough writing the occasional letter, typing out recipes or compiling a list of addresses for their social club. Writing and storing information is perhaps the primary use people find for computers, yet this can embrace far more than one might think. I used to write myself notes on scraps of paper, and I still do - but the important notes now find their way to the computer where all my addresses, telephone numbers, reminders, banking details, correspondence, medical details and so forth are stored electronically. At the touch of a button I can retrieve significant details relating to my health. I can see my current financial situation, or find that joke I laughed at several years ago. I can find the words to a poem I liked or the copy of my will or even the paint colour I used when renovating the lounge some years back. Add to this information the countless items I have downloaded from the Internet or knowledge stored in my electronic Encyclopaedias, and you begin to see how central my computer is to the way my life's affairs are organised. It's amazing just how much information we have around us, and computers enable you to access that information quickly and to keep it all in the one place.
This might sound complicated to maintain, but it isn't. Once you have settled into a routine, it's just as easy to type information into a computer as it is to try and organise those zillions of pieces of paper that pass through our hands every year. Information can be scanned, typed, or imported electronically, and there is no practical limitation to the amount of information one can store. Retrieval of information is simplicity itself, and one's entire life can be documented, analysed, retrieved and transported with amazing ease, with multiple copies of everything just to be safe. That's a lot more than the brain can do!
My wife prepares a newsletter for an anti-Landmine group, solely produced on her PC and distributed via mail and the Internet. Using a combination of word processing, publishing and graphics software she regularly produces a professional publication for Australia-wide distribution. Copies are also mailed via regular mail using pre-printed labels I produce for her on my PC. While she is producing her newsletter, I might be developing a spreadsheet that will monitor our finances or produce information for our taxation returns. Recently I used these same spreadsheets to calculate the projected costs of an overseas trip, and to prepare currency conversion tables for use in Europe.
Rather than use a teledex for frequently accessed telephone numbers, my computer periodically prints out a mini telephone directory which sits beside my telephone. In the kitchen is a folder with all my recipes inserted into plastic envelopes. Each recipe title is held on a database from which I can print an indexed guide for those recipes, allowing me to find favourite recipes in an instant - no need to type any recipes in full, just their titles. When I mail Christmas cards each year, the computer spits out a list of names and addresses for me to check off. Similarly, instead of taking a written list of people's names when travelling, my list is in the form of labels so that I just peel them off and attach them to postcards. None of this however, means that paper and pen are dead - there are still many occasions when I forsake the computer for a simple handwritten note - but there are so many ways in which your PC can make life a lot more organised.
Genealogy
Once I tried compiling my family tree on paper. A total disaster, and impossible to structure - especially when new information came to hand. Now, the whole process is stored and compiled electronically with all my genealogical information automatically sorted and re-sorted by specialised software. If I wonder what relation some obscure person is to me I simply press a button and the computer tells me that Alice is my second cousin twice removed. If I want a printed family tree it is there for the asking, in any form desired; and if I want to send a copy to a relative overseas it is there in an instant.
Hobbies
I have a number of interests including coin collecting, craft, photography, music, writing, fish keeping plus various other hobbies. Each one is aided via collections of articles, pictures, instructions, notes and all the peripheral data that accompanies any hobby. Instruction manuals, tuition material, contacts and information about my pursuits are all stored on the computer, and managed by specialised software to help me manage and pursue those interests. There are an amazing number of free programs available via the internet which have been designed to facilitate the pursuit of virtually every interest one might develop. Some of these hobbies require high-end software, but there are also many interests that can be greatly enhanced using low-cost software involving little extra cost. I know of women who exchange knitting patterns and cooking tips, and use their computers to store their recipes and sewing ideas. My own wife takes this a step further by connecting her advanced sewing machine directly to the computer, thus availing herself of a potentially endless supply of patterns.
Video Editing and Photography
Recently I ventured into the latest use hobbyists are finding for their computers - the manipulation of still and video images to produce quality photographs and films for pleasure or profit. Today, home movies can be edited and enhanced using software that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars only a few years ago. The technology available to the home user is staggering, and those blurry, disjointed home movies or photographs can now be a thing of the past. My grandchildren will be able to see professionally produced images of themselves as youngsters when they grow up, and the whole family will be able to re-live those important occasions just by inserting a DVD into their home entertainment centre. Granted, this is one area where significant costs can be involved, but not such that they are totally out of reach.
Music
Using specially designed software, I will (when time permits) take the first steps towards writing my first symphony, or perhaps my first children's song if an overture proves a tad ambitious. I have software that will convert my computer into a piano teacher, patiently leading me onward to the point where I can decipher all those strange black notes, or allow me to differentiate between a treble clef and a middle "C". If I choose to limit myself to existing music there are other rewarding possibilities. Already I have used the computer to transfer my favourite music from my old vinyl records to shiny new CDs - removing the scratchy sounds and leaving off any songs I didn't particularly like. My series of "Compilation CD's" contain nothing but the best of my youth and they provide me with endless pleasure.
The Internet
The Internet is the new electronic frontier. From the comfort of your own home you can visit new lands, meet new people and make lasting friendships. There are discussion groups, hobby groups, electronic meeting places covering anything you care to name - and there is information about any topic you can imagine. There would be few, if any activities not represented on the Internet, and no area of human endeavour that cannot be pursued via the internet. Truly it is an amazing place, and I am just thankful I am here to experience it. One would have to live in a vacuum not to be able to find some point of interest amongst the millions of computers and the millions of people who combine to make this a truly global community. Distant relatives become closer due to the magic of e-mail; letters that were once taken to the post box are redundant provided that your friends are "on the Net". Overseas messages reach their targets within seconds instead of days or weeks, and hard-to-get items can be purchased from exotic locations. You can buy and sell things online, and you can exchange photographs of your grandchildren without having to print extra copies.
Computers Themselves
Finally, of course, is the pleasure gained from just learning how to use the computer itself, to understand what makes it tick, and to be able to deal with its complexities and foibles. Computers are like cars. You don't have to be a mechanic to drive them, but it sure makes life a lot easier if you understand a little of what goes on under the bonnet. To this end there are an amazing number of free sources of guidance, help and support. There is an astonishing range of avenues to pursue, and you will find millions of people in the world who have exactly the same level of (in)competence as yourself. You can seek the views of experts on the Internet or within Melb PC itself. Remember, an expert is just someone who knows more than you do, and it is surprising how soon everyone becomes an expert to someone else and is able in turn to share their own knowledge with someone further down the knowledge chain.
Unless you have no hobbies, no interests and no wish to explore your own horizons, everyone can benefit from using a computer. Even those who simply like to play games (not my preferred option) can while away hours in front of a computer screen. Maybe you have the Great Australian Novel lurking within you, or a manuscript for a new play. Whatever it is that presses your buttons can be made more interesting by pressing the "On" button of a computer. Computers keep you young, they keep you alert and they keep your brain active.
So - have you just bought a computer? Are you contemplating buying one? Have you wondered what all the fuss is about? Hopefully this will give you some idea of the possibilities, the potential and the pleasures that computing can bring to you. Melb PC has members from all walks of life, and all age groups. We have members in their 80s whose lives are made so much more interesting by their new found involvement with computing. Computers can benefit everyone, all it takes is the will to give it a go, and if you don't know how to begin, all you need do is ask.
Reprinted from the December 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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