Thought I'd come out of the woodwork and introduce
myself. I'm Jenne and I currently live in the USA
although I'm as British as they come. I run/serve
several websites that run from the mainstream to the
not so mainstream and I write the majority of the
content for all my sites. I feel a bit out of my
league here when I've read some of what others here do
but I've always loved painting with words and have
enjoyed reading what the group as had to offer so far,
so I guess your stuck with me LOL
As for technophobia, I grew up in what I think was the
first real generation of geeks, which I don't think
will ever be considered a 'cool' word. I've always
been surrounded by computers and as such recognise
them for what they are or should be a tool. I often
write articles on paper first and then transpose them
onto the PC in part because I enjoy the feeling of
putting pen to paper, there's something more tactile
about the process and I tend to self edit a lot less
this way, I've heard other writers say the samething.
I see computers as a tool as I said and the same is
true of the Internet. One thing I learnt in computer
class many, many years ago was that a computer was
only as good as the person using or programming it. I
always find it amusing when someone says there appears
to be a computer error, computers simply don't make
errors, they can't, unlike humans.
I think the downside of this tool is it's easy to
become to reliant on it. Word spell check for example,
is a wonderful aid but it can't replace editing,
proofreading, then reediting. The same is true of the
internet, just because it's written doesn't mean it's
true nowadays and sometimes it's easy to get caught in
the waves that appear on the net once in a while.
Hope some of the above makes sense to someone other
than me and looking forward to being an active part of
this group.
Jenne
--- Sue Thomas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Since so many people have joined the list in the
> last 24 hours (welcome
> all!) I am reposting the topic I chose for this
> month. We haven't said much
> about it yet. Maybe it hasn't grasped the
> imagination of the list? Here is
> one more attempt to enthuse you!
>
> **
>
> Iıve chosen TECHNOPHOBIA for our first monthly topic
> because Iım curious to
> know what you all think about it and how you have
> encountered it in your own
> lives, particularly in relation to writing.
>
> Ten years ago technophobia was a common issue but
> today it is seldom
> mentioned. Is that because we have grown up so much
> with our machines that
> we donıt need to worry about them any more? Or is it
> because, as I suspect,
> it has now become politically incorrect to express
> negative feelings about
> computers and the internet? Itıs curious how
> emotionally some people respond
> to the very idea of computers, and fascinating to
> see their difficulties in
> expressing or justifying that gut reaction beyond
> anger, fearfulness and a
> deep sense of threat. I believe that many more
> people than we realise still
> resist engagement with computers, they just do it
> covertly where once it
> would have been acceptable to be open about it.
> Today, not only is it uncool
> to be technophobic, but open resistance to using
> computers can also affect
> your prospects of getting a job at whatever level.
>
> But there is also a backlash, and I would like to
> hear your views on ways in
> which a culture of technophobia has in some quarters
> developed as a symbol
> of traditional values. I regularly hear of writers,
> particularly poets for
> some reason, who eschew computers and proudly
> declare they have never used
> one, and have vowed to never visit the internet or
> have an email address.
> However, I assume most of these people accept
> computers in their banks,
> washing-machines, TVs, transport etc etc so their
> negativity seems to be
> directed towards the personal computer rather than
> computers per se.
>
> Is technophobia an issue for you in relation to
> writing or other areas of
> your digital life?
>
> Can you contribute any useful links on the subject
> to our collaborative
> del.icio.us page at http://del.icio.us/cornucopia?
> (username and password
> are both cornucopia)
>
> To stimulate your thinking, here is an historical
> artefact: the results of a
> 2000 trAce Survey of Writing and the Internet, in
> answer to the question
> what worries you about the internet?ı categorised
> by gender, age, and
> whether or not they had ever actually accessed the
> internet.
> http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/survey.htm#worries
>
> Best
> Sue
>
> ps: remember that you can read the archives of this
> list online at
>
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/WRITING-AND-THE-DIGITAL-LIFE.html
> You can
> also alter your membership settings there. And our
> del.icio.us page is
> http://del.icio.us/cornucopia
>
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