by Janis Patterson
Hello - my name is Janis and I am a computer dependent.
One of the glories of being a writer is that you can work
anywhere.
One of the horrors of being a writer is that you can work
anywhere.
My Mac laptop (my writing computer) has become my security
object. I take it everywhere. Almost everywhere. I have so far resisted
carrying it along when I go to the grocery store or the dry cleaners, but
fatalistically I know it's coming.
I mean, what happens when I have this marvelous idea for a
scene for my work-in-progress which has a deadline approaching as quickly as a
speeding freight train? What happens if I have a superb idea for the next book
in my somewhat stalled series? It's nothing to pull over to the side of the
road or park in a handy lot and type away for a few minutes and I feel
virtuous, satisfied and relieved.
But what about a notebook and pen, you ask, or a voice
recorder? Surely those would be easier?
For some. Not for me. My dad taught me to type the summer
before I entered the fourth grade, and from that first night's lesson I was
entranced. How much easier, how much more legible, how much better typing was
than handwriting. I vowed to use it all the time - which caused me no end of trouble.
Do you have any idea of how difficult it was to get typed homework accepted in
the early 50s? I remember having to prove my ability by typing in front of the
principal - which I aced - but they still refused to allow me to type my
assignments. For what it's worth I still hate and try my best to avoid
handwriting anything to this day. At first it was just personal preference, but
lately my increasingly arthritic hands have excitedly seconded that choice.
As for using a recording device, I worked too long as a
voice talent to make that a viable option. When the recorder clicks on I
immediately begin to think of my breathing, the pitch, tenor and resonance of
my voice, my phrasing... everything except what I am talking about and - POOF!
- the idea is gone, sacrificed on the altar of professionalism.
Now you see why my laptop is my security object. My last
computer - a huge old (one of the first) 17 inch screen laptop - was great on
the eyes, hard on the fingers and about as portable as a concrete block. Still,
I carried it on every trip The Husband and I took, including tucking it into my
backpack for several weeks traveling in Egypt. Believe me, my shoulder muscles
prospered with the exercise - the rest of me, not so much.
When The Husband gifted me with my choice of Mac computers
two years ago, weight was a decided consideration; so was battery life, as my previous one had a battery life of about 35 minutes. I
settled on a medium-priced one, a 13 inch MacBook Pro - which still cost about the same as my first new car. I kind of worried that
after a big 17 inch a 13 inch would be too small, too difficult to type on, and
I'd have to get an external ergonomic keyboard, but I was wrong. I don't how
they worked this magic, but the 13 incher's keyboard is so much easier to type
on than the 17 incher's. My wrists don't hurt, I don't get stiff (in the arms
and shoulders - back and legs are different) and after the first day or two on
Mac (my singularly unimaginative name for the new computer) all thoughts of an
external ergonomic keyboard just faded away. Like I said, magic.
However - such ease of use and light weight have their
downside. I've had to buy new, larger purses which will accommodate Mac when I
leave the house for anything longer than a quick grocery run - just in case. My
calendar and my address book are on Mac, which means I don't have to write
anything down by hand (yea!) and ideas and whatever which were once inscribed
on unfortunately easily losable scraps of paper can be safely relegated to
pixels. The only downside to this is that larger purses tend to accumulate
larger amounts of stuff, and unless I watch my pack-rat self with care, I'll be
weighted down with unimaginable amounts of (un)necessary things, a tendency
which my uncertain back vociferously deplores. And sadly the problem only gets
worse when The Husband hands me something and says, "Honey, stick this in
your purse, will you?" Now we know why men's clothing only has a few
meagre pockets - it's because their wives carry shoulder-strap suitcases! But
we have to - how else could we carry our security-computers?
Yes, I am Janis and I am most definitely a computer
dependent.
