Just thinking about the qotd right below this. I’m sure Adm. Hopper had to deal with way more than her fair share of idiots (and it’s the well-educated idiots that can be most annoying), but this sentence is still quite revealing of how people still think. Most especially, of course, with computers – so I think because I have one sitting on my lap.
The world of the Internet was “our place” two, three decades ago. First, “us” was a handful of professors and researchers at labs and universities. Then they grudgingly let their students have accounts. Then, hey! the Arts and Humanities students wanted in on the act, too. Then the bloody hobbyists shoved their way in in the early ’80’s (that’s where I came in).
Then, after years of me telling people – a lone voice in the wilderness – that email and computers were the wave of the future, the people started listening. And getting their own accounts. For the fun of it! And me and my buddies weren’t alone anymore.
Now we have an Internet that no longer has seasons… No longer do I prepare myself for a huge influx of newbies in September, when the freshmen first log on. No longer do I avoid checking email first thing in the morning and at around dinner, because those are the busy (and slow) times.
It’s all newbies and it’s all busy times. And sometimes, I find myself pausing and reminding myself that this is how it is supposed to be.
white pebble 