I told her to get a Mac

“I’ve been trying to reach you for hours,” says my mother, one evening as I’m researching this column. “You haven’t been on that Internet thing all night again have you?”

“Course not!” I lie. Mom isn’t quite sure what computers are for, let alone the Internet. But the News has made it clear that being online too often is not only a little unsavory, it’s almost as addictive as heroin.

“Well,” she says, still suspicious, “I do hope you’re not turning into one of those Web Heads we hear so much about.”

“Certainly not,” I assure her. And this time, I am telling the truth. I probably spend less time researching the Internet and creating on the computer than I once spent laboriously making materials for my students and keeping up with my leisure reading. The difference is that instead of a houseful of little stacks of paper everywhere, we now have to edge our way around much bigger stacks of software and computers. And, as for the hours spent reading, delving into Autism and Epilepsy is doubtless a better use of my time than all those mysteries and sci-fi stories I used to devour. I’m even down to one Mac magazine a month.

But I do understand my mother’s concern. She is a sociable soul and worries that her older daughter may be perfectly content to come home from a hard day of wiping noses to hideout on the computer. And to that extent, she is absolutely right. The Mac has both liberated and chained me. But I am chained by choice.

Lately, however, with the Mac world in a tizzy, I find it hard to resist going online several times a day, even to the extent of neglecting a few duties. (Sorry about those lesson plans, Ms. Ashley. Meet me online and we’ll discuss it.) As soon as I am home, I dash to the bedroom, turn on both Macs, and settle in. While I make materials with one eye on the StarMax, I Internet on the Performa. The current Mac Soap Opera has me hooked. (Note: See ‘Churning the AppleCart‘)

BTW: ‘My Mac‘ is a first-rate destination. If you haven’t checked out Links at the top of the main page, you really should. Tim and staff have neatly organized the links by type and then given a synopsis as to what you will find once there. (Thanks to the hard work of Adam K. and Brian K! – Tim) And, unlike the excellent ‘Best O’ Web Mac‘, http://www.sitelink.net
, it opens very quickly to speed up navigation. (My secret? I often actually start with Sitelink and then click on ‘My Mac‘ under Ezines. Gotta keep up the image for our team.)

Still, in spite of Mom’s fears, even those of us hiding out on the computer are not entirely cut off from the world. The doorbell rang last August and there stood our neighbor wanting to borrow – not a cup of sugar, not a cup of flour, but “a cup of Internet, please”. Their daughter needed information and an entry form for a horse show and they needed it that day. Hours of fruitless trying led to nothing.

They knew I was “into computing” as we had met the year before among the computers at Best Buy. “Hi,” they said. “Don’t you live next door?” We live on small acreages and don’t often meet by the fence.

“Get a Mac,’ I said. “And by the way, welcome to the neighborhood.”
“Well, we really don’t know much about computers…” they began.

“Get a Mac,’ I said. “And by the way, how do you plan to use the computer?” “Oh, for my husband’s work and my daughter’s school,” she said. “And me? Well, I really want to learn how to use one. Maybe even play on the Internet.”

“Get a Mac,” I said. I don’t need a larynx. One of those Buzz LightYear dolls with a couple of buttons would do. While my Buzz button was explaining the advantages of owning a Mac, like its ease of use, reliability, creative software and just plain fun, they waited patiently. I hoped their dazed expressions meant I was making headway until …

“Dad wants one of those Windows things,” said daughter. “Like at work.” “Well then,” I said. “Get a Packard Bell.” Why not? They were in stock and on sale. A Mac with a DOS card was not in their karma.

We didn’t meet again until they rang the bell. Actually, I was just getting the hang of the Internet myself, but Macophiles are always ready to help. So I said, “Sure.” Hey, I had a Mac. How hard could it be? Hours later, having spent the afternoon downloading, crashing, cursing and downloading again, I was able to open the site. It was a 63 page ‘fact sheet’!

“Help!” I cried.”You will have to come over and pick your pages. I can’t print all this by nightfall. AOL will crash for sure.” So they came. Mother, daughter and I knelt on the floor, squeezed between the bed and the desk, as they picked and printed the few pages they needed. We were not only bonded together, we were welded for life. A very sociable experience. So much for hermitting.

And how have they fared with their Packard Bell? They seem happy. Daughter does school stuff and has a good time chatting online with her riding friends. Dad gets his business out of the way. And Mom? Mom plays a great game of Solitaire.

I told her to get a Mac.

---

Susan Howerter (susan@mymac.com)