I come from a family of extremely reluctant techies. By this, I mean that the technological revolution pretty much skipped us. Oh, sure, us kids know how to email and search the web, and I even use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like. But this is only by shear force of will...



When the home computer first became widely available, my parents were having nothing to do with it. "It's so expensive," they said. "Plus, what would you possibly use it for?" Frankly, I didn't know. But I somehow thought it would come in handy, at some point. In high school, I took typing, which was useful. This was back when you used sheets of paper, and Correct-o-type was your best friend. They still teach typing. Except they call it "Keyboarding."

In college, there were computer labs that filled up faster than you can say "Term Paper", and the labs had "hours". Yes, the lab actually opened in the morning- around 7, I think, and closed before midnight. It was also prone to overloading and shutting down randomly. You always knew when this happened, no matter where you might be in the library, because of the howls and maniacal cackles of those who forgot to auto-save. Luckily for me, a family friend had gotten me a Word Processor as a graduation gift (really, a glorified typewriter). Ha ha, Suckers! I didn't need to wait around for my turn on one of those clunky machines- I could type my paper AND save it on a diskette. And as long as the diskette didn't get too cold, too hot, too dusty or any scratches on it, I could keep my work.



Until I lost the diskette. Then, I basically had a typewriter.


Now I have computers, Internet (of course), a blackberry. The usual. And I thought I was reasonably proficient. Until I saw this:
Information Overload


I wasn't sure whether to be excited or afraid. If I chose fear, it would mean I should go back to the beloved French history and literature that consumed my early 20s. If I chose excitement, it would mean I could celebrate the here and now and realize my dream career.


Which will you choose?