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Tutor Stephen Brivati 's Column

If I Could Have One Wish…

Jul 12, 2021

Of course, I have many big wishes. These include things like world peace, ending environmental destruction, or equal rights for every person and animal on this planet. However, since these are so huge and complicated I will be a little selfish and choose something rather small and personal:  I wish I had learnt about computers and IT (information technology) many years ago when it was new.

I am fairly old, so I remember the first ever digital watches that were sold. This was the time when computer chips had just been invented. Before this, to get the same computing power, you would  had to have had a soccer stadium full of huge computers working together. Suddenly, that power could be strapped on your wrist. At the same time, it seemed that some geeky school children were starting to talk in a mysterious language that the rest of us could not understand about their new home computers and how to program them!  These tiny little computers could not do much except play really simple games so kids like me wondered what was so interesting. Then computers that looked somewhat like today's computers were suddenly available and the geeks and nerds were in heaven. The rest of us still thought they were weird. These geeky kids were never popular.

However, they had the last laugh because as the world became increasingly run by computers they became mainstream. The rest of us who had laughed at technology were now out in the cold. Of course, big companies such as Microsoft and Apple realized that people like me were a huge customer market. All we needed were computers that even a child could use. That is why we have things like the ipad.  

So, these days, when I need to know how to us 'Powerpoint' or 'Excel' or whatever, I can do a quick search on YouTube and learn the basic skills. However, I am not kidding myself that I know anything about IT or computers or whatever. The people who started young and stayed with it now have all the knowledge and all the power in the world. They can work wherever they like, change jobs whenever they like and choose the kind of work they do. Not to mention the money they make…  

They have inherited tomorrow. Or rather, they have inherited today!

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

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