Benefits of Computers

By, Laura Hall

I have been working with computers since I was old enough to talk. My father has owned a computer for longer than I can remember. Over time, I have had many problems with the computers in my house, but overall they have made life a lot easier. I could not imagine my life without out one. Computers run our whole country in one way or another. Without them our lives would change drastically and, in my opinion, for the worst. Computers make our lives easier even though at times they are incredibly frustrating. Anytime there is a problem, there is always a logical reason; it's just that sometimes it is hard for us to locate the problem and fix it.

One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my father's lap while he was working and pressing "Enter" when he let me. As a graduate from Georgia Tech, my father has always been very interested in technology and figuring things out. As soon as the PC became available to the general public he bought one, read books on it, and had DOS all figured out. He taught me a lot about using computers and appreciating all that technology has to offer. Like him, I became interested in the technology world and learning about computers. As a result of all this, I had a basic understanding of how to use DOS at 9 years old. I also quickly learned the importance of the "Ctrl, Alt, Del" keys because my computers have always had tendencies to lock up.

Since then, I've learned Windows 3.1, 95, 98, and 2000. When I was 11, I got my first e-mail account and later that year I learned how to talk to other people online. In middle school, one of the men who worked for my father showed me how to write my own games and I wrote three. At 16 I designed my own web site and learned html. Later that year I created a web site for my father's company. Now, at 18, I maintain my father's company web site from my apartment here at Florida State and I am trying to find time to learn more about using different computer languages.

Personally, I support using computers for many things we do in everyday life. Granted, it is nice to get a hand-written letter in the mail; however, if someone needs to get information to a person fast, communicating through e-mail is much more practical than writing a letter and waiting for the U.S. Postal Service. And we all know that the post office is not the most reliable way to communicate. Many letters have been lost in the mail, but letters cannot really be lost in cyberspace. Almost all of my relatives are spread out over the country and recently we have all started keeping in touch through e-mail. I usually hear from at least one of them a day through e-mail, but I have also gotten a few letters as well. Either way, it is always good to hear from them. The fetishist in me is very bad about actually sitting down to hand write a letter and spending money on overpriced stamps, so e-mail has been a gift from God.

Computers are also a great source of information. Through the Internet, we are able to find more information faster and easier. Anyone can get online and research virtually any topic. Students can write a research paper without ever having to leave their room; libraries are no longer necessary. Any information we can find in them, we can also find over the Internet. Usually we can find even more information over the Internet using search engines that make finding the information extremely easy. I once wrote an entire ten-page research paper without leaving my room with the exception of going down stairs to get food. It was neat to look at the paper and realize that I wrote it without ever having to leave my chair.

Another interesting aspect of the Internet is meeting people from all over the world. One of my good friends is marrying a man in May that she met over the Internet. While meeting people you meet online can be dangerous, it also gives you an opportunity to meet people you would never have known otherwise. I once talked to a guy online that was literally crazy. He found my screen name every time I changed it and said some scary things. Eventually I reported it and the America Online people took care of it. While bad things can happen, there is some form of online policing if you are using a company as large and well known as America Online.

In my opinion, one of the neatest aspects of the Internet is the ability we have to create a web site that people all over the world can view. This is an option open to anyone that can write due to the fact that many programs have made creating a web site relatively self-explanatory and user friendly. When I started my web site I did not know any html and was using a basic program. No one had shown me how to start a site. Now I have learned html with the help of the program I started the site with. Through my web site, I have met a lot of very interesting people who visit it and then e-mail me. On it I have posted things that I have written, quotes, poetry, and links to other sites. Overall, it has been a fabulous learning experience and a lot of fun to work on.

Napster, a music service, has had a large impact not only on technology, but also on the music industry. The music downloading program was shut down last spring due to a San Francisco Court ruling on copyright laws, but for awhile it was an incredibly popular way to get free music. Any song you could ever want you could find on Napster. I found some of the most obscure live recordings of my favorite artists using it. There are still other programs such as Morpheus and iMesh that you can download music off of, but none are as popular as Napster was.

In conclusion, computer technology has greatly helped our society. More people can do more things much faster than ever before. Computers are easy to use and effective. If they do happen to lock up or quit working for no apparent reason, there is always someone down the hall that can help you out. And of course you can always do the three-finger salute: press "Ctrl, Alt, Del." Overall, computers have changed our society and our lives for the better.