People are
strange. On the one hand they will wait in line for the newest technological
wonder (iPhone, Galaxy, etc.) but on the other they will staunchly refuse to
budge when it comes to other things. They embrace the new and will refuse to
abandon the old depending on what it is, and this is particularly true of using
certain technologies.
I like to
think I’m pretty flexible. I want to see possibilities for how I can use the
technology. I will admit, I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of Facebook or
Twitter. Mostly because I can’t figure out a way to make it work with my style
of doing things. But I’m trying, and I see certain potentials there. But when I
see those potentials, when I can make them work with the way I do things, I’m all over it.
The one
thing I never do, though, is flat out refuse to even consider something. I
don’t understand that way of thinking. Sure, I still use an old version of
WordPerfect for my fiction writing. I like the no nonsense interface. I want a
platform that puts words down, and that’s it. I can tweak formatting with Word
later on. I know other writers who embrace Scrivener because of all its features
with notecards and multimedia, but to me those are distractions. But I still
played around with it to see if it was something I could use.
And that’s
as a writer. Artists are eccentric, so they’re supposed to have these quirky
usages of tech.
But as a
teacher, I’m baffled that people obstinately refuse to try something new. Of
the ones who look at something and simply say “I’m comfortable with how I do
it.” This is a kind of closed mindedness that drives me up the wall. It’s one
thing to evaluate and then say, “I prefer the way I’ve been doing it,” but to
not even give it a chance reminds me of a five year old who has been told to
eat brussel sprouts.
I can’t
wrap my head around it, and all I can think to do is quote Bradbury: “I hate a
Roman named Status Quo.”