Modern Technology

[Edwin]

Have you ever tried for hours or days to do something on your computer that you should have been able to have done in minutes? I have used online banking I think since the year 2005 and I never had any problems. I tried to get on to check on my banking, and I could not get on. I tried to get my bank to help me and they couldn't. I saved everything on my computer, reformatted the harddrive, and reloaded everything on to try to make it work. Then I had the bank helping me again, until most of them were puzzled, and they turned the job over to their technicians who will not answer their telephone, but they have answering machines, and tell us they will call us back. After a long time I finally got to talk with one of them, and they told me that they could not fix the problem, but I had to get our internet provider to fix the problem. When I got hold of the internet provider one of their techs told me that they couldn't do what the bank wants done. They are telling me that they think the bank changed something that suddenly is making it not work, and I am of that opinion myself. The only thing the bank would tell me is that "we are changing security all the time!" I think they have made their online banking so secure that I can't access their online banking. My internet provider suggested we have a 3 way call so that the internet provider can ask the bank questions to hopefully come up with a solution. The internet provider techs and their engineers tell me they are working on the problem, and everyone has a different idea about what the problem is, and no one is admitting that it is their problem, so I am in the middle, and all of them are telling me that they can't help me, but the internet provider is still working on the problem, and it must be a big problem because it is taking them a long time, and the bank techs are taking their sweet time getting back to me. So I am getting out my pen and paper, and I am not going to be depending on the bank for access to their online banking. Technology has suddenly reversed itself and is becoming unuseable!

[edeline]

Inventions of the modern technolgies have helped a lot and in different ways to people but at the same time they also bring disadvantages. Sometimes, I am watching the movies and it makes me amaze so much on how intelligent the people are inventing things that we have now. It is very different compared before and even watching tv was almost impossible before. There were technologies already before but every now and then they are being improved to produce a better quality. One good example is the tv which was used to be just black and white and then later it turned out to be colored tv. I remember when I was watching tv shows and the tv was somewhat defective, my friend said if the tv is really black and white and I said no, I mean not all the time. She said I can't appreciate the show with just black and white color and I agreed on her.


One more thing is the arising of computer. It helps us in so many things and we can surf information out from that machine. Before it was so hard to buy computer and the people who possessed that thing was called that they are rich already. Now it is vital for a person to get a computer for surfing and keeping information at work. I am reminded of me computing the grades manually and when I computer the grade through the excel. I realize how improved and how better it is having new technology. However, people are sometimes taking advantage on the use of the computer which supposedly be used only for good reasons.

Before when I was at the cafe to research for my lesson I guess, I passed by the other computers. I saw some students playing games and to my astonishment, as I moved forward I saw kids around 8,9 0r 10 years of age were looking a porn on the cafe. I could not stop myself but yell at them. They were angry at me and I told them you better stop that or else I will call the police. They were very angry of me.

[Edwin]

Wow, it is unbelieveable that 8, 9, and 10 year olds would be watching porn in an internet cafe. Do they try to regulate what people load on the computers in those places? Maybe they have people running them that really don't care, huh? Most of our public libraries have computers in them with internet access. I have used their computers to access information within the library systems, both in individual libraries and the network of libraries, but I don't ever remember using any of their computers to get on the internet as I have never needed that. I think they have filters for bad sites, and I think if they catch someone on a porn site they will ban them.

During the years that I was substitute teaching I was in classrooms at times that had computers on the internet. I think they had the porn sites screened so that the students could not get access to them, but they had other sites that they were not supposed to be on, as it was play instead of work, and it was difficult to keep the students where they were supposed to be while they were doing their work. One student told me, "While the cat is away, the mice will play!" The cat was the teacher, and the mice were the students. Some students were really good to do what they were supposed to do always, and then other students didn't care much.

[Edwin]

I have this unrealistic opinion that when you purchase something it should last forever! It grieves me when I buy something, and a few years later it needs to be thrown away because it does not work anymore, and it is probably not worth fixing either. I spent a lot of money every several years buying computers. I had an old Apple IIe that I thought was wonderful, but it is now dead and gone forever. I then had a very cheap computer given to me that I actually used on the internet, no pictures, just print! I bought another, and gave it to my mother, and a friend worked on it, so that it would do more for her than it would for me. I bought a Gateway Computer that I was embarrassed to own, because it was so fast and powerful, but a very short time later it was not even good enough to get on the internet with via 2 way satellite internet. So I bought another computer, and paid about the same as I had for each one of them. We still have that computer in the house. It works, but it is slow and weak by today's standards. I only paid about 1/4 as much money or less for the computer I am using now, as it was a refurbished used computer. It has been by far the best computer I have ever had, and has outlasted all the others. Now I know that it is slow and low on memory, but I am still using it and getting along okay. I may have to wait sometimes longer than some other people with faster computers, but it is doing well.

Our kids were stationed in the Army in Oklahoma, and they sent me a Video Blaster Web Cam so that we could chat with them, and have some visuals at the same time. I remember using it, and seeing their house where they lived, and them seeing us where we lived. I just figured that it would always work, but guess what? I got it out a few days ago and found out it is obsolete. I got the message that I could not install from its software and drivers CD, because it said it would only work with Windows 98. I think I used it with Windows ME, but I am not positive about that. I attempted to download and install software for it off the internet that was supposed to work with Windows XP, which is what I have. Most of the places I went tricked me into downloading and installing software meant for something else, intended eventually to get money from me. In the end I was not able to download and install any software that would make it work. So I have a web cam that there is nothing wroing with except that technology has passed it by, and now it will not work! I did find a pretty nice one that is reasonable where I buy my printer's ink, and they are such a reliable company that I felt good buying it from them. Now in a couple of weeks I will have the capability to do video chat!