Change

This is what happened to my old computer screen

This past week I got my new computer. I needed a new one as my old one was dying fast. However, I liked my old computer. But changing technology - and expensive repairs - has made it impossible to keep. My son recommended a model based on my needs, I ordered it, and the UPS truck delivered it on Wednesday. 

Getting a new computer is like having a wrecking ball demolish your house and you have to reconstruct it from the ruins. I'm slowing transferring files, photos, and music from the old to the new, as well as installing software that I use on a regular basis. What is most frustrating to me is the junk that now comes loaded on computers. It's like buying a magazine and realizing that it is at least 50% advertising, except with the magazine you can just turn the page. On a computer, you have to determine what is essential and what isn't.

I have spent a good deal of time removing the seemingly "helpful" programs that tell me I need to remove spyware or corrupted files or to update my drivers. All of this on a brand new computer. And then the "helpful" program opens a page on your browser that tells you to purchase the program, at a discount of course. So in reality, there is nothing wrong with the computer; it's just software that is trying to sell you something.

While I am grateful for the technology that makes it possible for me to communicate with people around the world, to go to the library without driving, to search for and save useful information, and to perform thousands of other small tasks that make life easier, it can be really frustrating when I have to make changes. It's especially bad when I have to clean up things I didn't want in the first place. But I'm slowly getting there. And it will be nice to have a fully functioning computer again.