Further Education II

I remember buying my first computer. It was a Packard Bell with an Intel Celeron processor. I got it from PC World. The sales assistant told me that Celeron processors were the best, and the way forward. This meant nothing to me. I’m not technological. (I bought a mobile phone (fairly recently) and missed several calls because I didn’t know how to answer it. I had to do an internet search to find out. You have to ‘swipe’ the green phone icon – obviously.) I could have been technological; the opportunity was there, but it didn’t work out that way. By today’s standards, my first computer was big. The monitor resembled an old fashioned black and white TV. It stood on the square shaped processor case, into which you plugged the keyboard. The whole thing was huge and took up half a desk space. I had to buy a proper computer desk to put it on (well, I didn’t have to, but where else was I going to put it?) To get connected to the internet, there was a dial-up modem,, which plugged into your phone socket. At the time there were only a few service providers available. I signed up with AOL; it cost about £15.00 per month. I frequently had problems with my modem connection, and had to call up the AOL technician for advice. This was a lengthy process, and meant that I was usually on the phone for ages while the technician talked me step-by step into remedying the problem on my computer. This wasn't entirely unpleasant to be fair; some of the technicians were American, and quite charming. I went with AOL because I was a beginner, and they offered everything in one package: search engine, email, games and chat rooms etc.. I spent many a happy hour playing Slingo, and getting to know strangers from overseas. It was so exciting discovering the World Wide Web. Nowadays, people grow up with the internet, and take it for granted. We’ve also become more aware of it's darker side. The police are inundated with complaints from victims of cyber abuse, harassment, bullying, swindling and God knows what else. However, the advantages of the internet far outweigh it’s seedier drawbacks. It continues to be a great resource; a virtual place to disseminate ideas and opinions (in this land of free speech) and to connect with people from all walks of life.