Wendy Wallbridge
I don’t consider myself to be very old fashioned. Well, in most ways except for technology. Let me just say that I fully admit that it’s possible that because my husband is into all things computers and technology, I am a little shall we say…stubborn when it comes to his crazy ideas.
I would say other than arguing about whether we are going to be late (Sean) or early (me) arriving at whatever given destination, the thing we argue most about is our calendars. Sean is a big believer in putting everything into Outlook so we both have access to everything that’s going on. I’ll admit that it makes sense (on paper …) that we can have a look when we’re out of the house and see if there’s a conflict with our schedules, etc, etc, but I just like my paper.
Ahh, the paper calendar. The smell of it, the sheen and the little creaking noise it makes when you first open it up. The smooth pages…there is always something very satisfying about flipping actual pages.
As much as I like the idea of reading a book on a Kindle or one of those other reading devices, I think I would miss my pages too much. I have always been a tactile person. You know, those weird people you see in stores touching all the fabric, shaking and crinkling things and holding them up to the light. Believe me; you don’t get the same feeling swiping your fingers across a screen!
I was happy in my crinkling, shiny world until Sean bought me my very first iPad Mini for Christmas! I have always been of the attitude that as long as my computer (and car for that matter) is working, I am good to go. I don’t need anything fancy; I just need it to work.
I was a little reluctant at first to use this thingy-ma-bob. I remember asking Sean a few years back why he needed an iPad in the first place. Really, it just seemed like a glorified iPhone with no phone (sorry Mr. Jobs). Grasshopper had much to learn apparently, or so he told me. I still didn’t get it. It just seemed…unnecessary.
Unnecessary that is until I opened that thin, white box on Christmas day. I can’t say whether it made a ‘whoosh’ sound when it opened, but when I replay the moment in my mind it sure did. I carefully extracted the new toy, er, device and pressed that perfect little circle button on the bottom.
In a word – WOW. Not only do I feel like I’m no longer slowly going blind after using my phone so much, but the iPad Mini is just the perfect size and weight. One could say that it might even be slightly enjoyable to read a book on it! Now I’m not sure I will be doing that any time soon, but I have noticed that I am looking at that dreaded Outlook calendar just a little bit more lately.
I don’t think I’ll ever give up my paper, but I feel like I am a little more open to whatever crazy invention that arrives in our house in the future.
~Wendy~
So funny. You said almost verbatim what my wife (Tina) said to me the other day when I saw her organizing tasks and dates on paper. I said rather sarcastically that “you know … Outlook has a calendar and task list that looks very much like what you’ve jotted on paper”. She turns around and gives me a “death” stare and says “I … LIKE … my … paper”. So, I slunk away 🙂 Now you’re making me think that the iPad Mini might stand a chance.
That’s hilarious! I don’t think I will ever give up my paper calendar, but I kind of looking at my chicken scratch notes beside me here and thinking I might want to use something with a screen to keep track of everything….please send help!
I can relate to this on many levels. Early and late, tech versus paper, and finding myself using my Nexus 7 a lot more than I thought. It’s more efficient (and fun) for the majority of stuff I do (that I used to be done on the computer).
I can see using one at work could help people do certain things quicker. And maybe we won’t be tied to our chairs for as long!