Path To Technology

Technology isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. For sure, these engineering marvels, scientific breakthroughs and as-seen-on-TV inventions are a most critical part of our lives. Beyond even the computers, phones and gadgets we use every day, technology is all around us. Tech makes our lives better, faster and easier. Most of us would be hard pressed to make it through an hour without grabbing hold of our personal tech.

Truth is, we’ve grown so accustomed to leveraging technology that we’ve forgotten what it’s like doing things without. This fall, we’ll all be out in our yards raking leaves. Some may use rakes while most will grab hold of big air machines, blow those leaves to kingdom come. Many will plug in ear buds, blast the music so they don’t hear the deafening decibels of the leaf blower. The music won’t be coming from a tape or a disc, either. Instead, we’re streaming our music from some satellite spinning way out there and coming through the ether.

Years ago, when I first moved into my house, I started raking at the very back of the property. Slowly, over the weeks, I moved the ever-growing pile inch-by-inch until reaching the road at the front of the house. Thank goodness I live in town and with technologically advanced leaf suckers that would vacuum the leaves away. After a few years, I began laying down a tarp and found I could move the leaves along faster. Wasn’t really a tech breakthrough so much as I got smarter where I had been rather dumb.

These days, I’ve joined the ranks of the advanced and use a leaf blower to get the job done. I still use a rake and an old sheet, but the blower has become part of my arsenal. With five large oriental plane trees (sycamore and maple) on a quarter acre, need all the help I can get.

The big technology push for me happened years ago working as an editor with the federal government. I liked my job and everything was going great. I was pretty adept at using proofreader’s marks. Other editors and myself had fun filling the room with cigarette smoke, back when smoking was considered healthy. No matter, our tool was the ink pen. We marked up reams of paper which would be sent out to the typesetters so they could do their job. This was technology at its best, although the typesetters had a lot more to complain about. What was worse, they couldn’t smoke cigarettes where they sat.

One day, I was at my desk filling the ashtray when a bunch of boxes were delivered to our area. Next thing you know, metal containers were placed on each of our desks. We were instructed to learn how to use these things they were calling computers. I didn’t like change and enjoyed my ink pens. I had plenty of work, a big bowl of paper clips and was happy, productive, and well stocked in cigarettes. Change was coming.

I was told the computers would help make my life easier, but I strongly disagreed. I worked with hard copy only, thank you very much, and would have no part of these new-fangled boxes. Still, I was told to get ready for the future.

Ignoring this box with a small television screen in front, I went on marking up hard copy. Day after day, I kept working while the contraption on my desk did nothing. Little by little, I became curious and turned the machine on and started pushing buttons. Eventually, I began using this machine to edit copy and, well, that was my introduction to big technology. Ended up figuring out on my own how the damn thing worked. Back then, there were no on-line courses, much less places they could send me for machine education. 

Leveraging Technology…before smart phones were ever invented.

Helping to usher in the age of computers, we didn’t think we were part of anything historic. The future was giving us something else to complain about.  I taught myself the software that ran on these machines and welcomed the changes it brought. Actually, my interest with leaf blowers and computers was different than what one might think. You see, these things held little interest to me in making my life easier. No interest in letting technology take care of my work, allowing me to think less. On the contrary, technology constantly provided me new challenges and new creative paths. Technology caused me to think much more.

Being an English major and deciding not to venture into teaching, my options were limited. I needed to make a decent living for my rapidly growing family. Didn’t need technology to grow the family, but I had to feed the family. Wasn’t college trained in technology, so I had to sell myself to each new boss I had. If I wanted a job, my computer skills had to be razor sharp. 

My bread and butter had always been in production, obtaining quality results borne of determined fashion. Staying abreast of advances in computer technology kept me busy and always learning. Becoming one with the computer, so to speak, I learned much more than I otherwise would have missed out on. 

I moved on in the government to an office that put together a major military quarterly publication, The Ordnance Bulletin. Editing copy was right down my alley and I loved the environment that goes with putting out a magazine. The deadlines aren’t nearly as hectic as a newspaper, but turning copy into the printed word is magical. I learned so much from the editors, graphic artists and illustrators I worked with. 

We had an old guy with coke bottle glasses who worked the layout boards the old fashioned way, sans computer. He knew so much and his work was honorable. Watching and learning from the masters is the way to go, especially if you respect their work. When the old man retired, the young graphic artist and I teamed up to accomplish the work. I was horrible with the Exacto blade. I was cutting myself often enough to hold stock in Band Aids. Ultimately, I ruined so much copy on the layout boards I was banned from using anything sharp. 

Then came desktop publishing. Laying out a magazine using a computer and layout software wasn’t being done, but we gave it a try. My passion for words along with being familiar with the world of technology gave me an advantage. Knowing computers helped me to train the young graphic artist. Worked so well, she left the government and started her own business. 

Along with my main duties as editor, it was now left to me to learn and become proficient at desktop publishing. My older brother was a typesetter and knew the various processes of hot type, cold type and now desktop publishing. He was far better than I was and blazed new trails in the desktop publishing world. Of course, he was my older brother and as such, had no interest in teaching me the trade. As with learning the computer and most everything else, I was on my own.

After the magazine folded, I was sent to work for the General’s office, making viewgraphs and running the audiovisual equipment. Viewgraphs turned into Harvard Graphic slides and that turned into PowerPoint. I kept the machines running and produced briefing slides by the millions. Again, if I wanted a job, then I had to learn how to do it on my own. Better than anyone else.

The effects of overcooked thinking.

I was a one-person shop for practically all of my government career. As such, I was one of those oddball government workers who didn’t stand around waiting for instructions. My livelihood was in what I could produce and the machines I could work with. Technology was my friend and I constantly pushed myself to learn and do more to stay ahead of the curve. In this manner, my cranial capacity grew and I was able to provide for my family.

I’m now retired and don’t need to keep up to date on tech developments. My days of being a technology ace are long over. No problem relinquishing command. I was once consumed with leveraging technology to accomplish my work. Now, I am content to learn what I need for my personal projects and have fun with the rest. 

I’m still learning and that won’t change. Always looked at computers as a means to the end, not as something I had to master or become a slave to. On the contrary, what is between my ears is the only bread and butter I need. I push myself to learn and adapt, constantly challenging myself to go a little further, freely sharing what I’ve learned. Don’t think it was ever technology driving the train at all, just me and the path I set out on. 

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