sgietz - 2:12 pm on Apr 16, 2008 (gmt 0)

I currently work for a newspaper. There are plenty of old timers here who hate technology and they HATE the Internet, Heck, our editor in chief doesn't have an email address (yes folks, it's true). Day in and day out are we (the Internet department) fighting the archaic ideas of people that are stuck in a time warp. They still live in a world where the milkman comes to your door, where every diner has a jukebox on each table, where gas was 19 cents a gallon, where Full HD meant watching Lucy in color, where the birds were singing louder, and the sun was shining brighter ... yada yada yada.

They are not adopting to new technology, which is sad, because the printing business benefited from technology just as much as any other business. It's a stale environment with stale people too stubborn to change. They look at us as a threat.

“Hey, they’re ruining our business, those Internet folks! They’re sucking all the integrity out of the newspaper business.”

Sorry, but I don’t buy that for a minute! Gutenberg didn’t invent the movable type to ruin the industry, he tried to improve it, and so did the guy who built the first automated press. Just because stories are posted on a website as opposed to dead trees, doesn’t kill the industry. Imagine being able to post breaking news as it happens, not 12 hours later when the paper gets printed. Wow, what a concept! And I’m a threat for killing the industry?

OK, I don’t mean to blog on about this. The point is very clear to me. Vista is very different from XP (well, somewhat). Office 2007 is very different from previous versions. People don’t like change. People hate change.

“What’s this button there, why did they move that menu over here, darn it, why the heck did they change that toolbar?”

Let me tell you, Office 2007 is refreshing. Sure, there’s a slight learning curve compared to previous versions, but once you get your head around it, it’s so much easier. The same goes with Vista. Besides the *sleek interface* which is just makeup, it makes certain tasks easier. Of course there are annoyances, but what piece of software doesn’t come with those? I think it’s time to swallow the blue pill (or was it the red pill?), take the plunge and quit whining!

I know folks who run Vista without as much as a hiccup. Then there are others who have massive problems. How do you explain that? The OS is the same, so what could be the culprit? By process of elimination it must be hardware related, third-party software related, or user related. In the first scenario, call Dell and tell them to quit sticking cheapo stuff in their cases. Second scenario, call the vendor and tell them to get on the ball with updates. Third scenario, swallow your pride and confess that you’re not the computer guru you thought you were.

I think people hate Microsoft just because it’s the cool thing to do. It’s like telling Bush jokes. Everyone does it, so everyone gets in on it (I do like a good Bush joke, though). Yes, they make mistakes, they’re an evil corporation, blah blah, but I think they make good products, and if your *ethics* prevent you from buying their stuff, quit posting messages that say stuff like “I want Linux to take over.” The only way for that to happen is if you actually go out and buy it!