Arthur, who I’ve possibly never mentioned in the blog ever, notes:
I missed this when you posted it—it’s a busy time of year!—but I have questions:
If you could understand a technology you currently feel that you don’t, what would it be and why?
There is not a single technology that I’ve ever come across that I knew instinctively how to operate. The cliche that people had VCRs with the clock flashing 12:00 was true until I bought another machine and stumbled into figuring it out, or somebody else did; I can’t remember.
We have a DVD player in which we can play DVDs, but we still don’t have a current means of playing VHS tapes, so some things never change.
If you could create a technological solution for something, what would it be? What problem are you trying to “fix”?
The “fix” for my technological needs has been found. Unfortunately, it was established in the world of fictional television. For instance, I want a transporter like the one on Star Trek so I can spend less time getting there and more time enjoying myself. I’d also do a lot more international travel.
On the sitcom Bewitched, Samantha Stevens could instantly clean the house. I’m up for that, but I can’t wiggle my nose. Alas! (And, BTW, Darrin was a jerk for “forbidding” Sam from using her magic to do mundane tasks. )
Old school
What was your favourite technology that’s now obsolete?
It’s a word-processing product. It may have been WordPerfect. I could tell what italics, bold, etc., were embedded in the document and fix them. If you’ve ever seen any of my blog posts that have big gaps or, conversely, run together, know that I tried to fix them, but I can’t see why they’re off. It’s a mystery to me, and if my WordPress did the same thing as the WordPerfect I used to use, that would be nice. I don’t know if WordPerfect exists anymore and if it could be used in this mode.
If you could transport back in time for 30 minutes, where/when would you go, and why? Or, would you rather leave the past in the past?
I would avoid most opportunities to go back in time because changing one thing would likely affect several others. But two things come to mind that I’d alter. 1) I commented on a couple of people in a manner I don’t understand. I would undo that, and that would likely not have any grand negative consequences.
2) I was in Greenwich Village in the late 1970s or early 1980s, talking to somebody on a pay phone; I left my address book there and never retrieved it. It had addresses I needed, and I’ve always been a bit sad about that. So, if I could go back and remember to pick the phone address book off the phone booth shelf, I would do that, and it would make me surprisingly happy.