Tech vs Batteries

When I was growing up in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s, batteries were the big item needed on Christmas Day, or the first thing to shop for after the holiday. So many toys needed batteries to work. And they were a marvel. How did they know to make this thing? How clever and fun.

Seventy plus years later, batteries are still a thing in need on Christmas Day, but their use is longer lasting using a plethora of battery types and sizes. More to the point, however, is technology of all kinds and sizes.

The challenge is to figure out how to unwrap the new gizmo, then how to turn it on, then ponder how much rechargeable battery juice it already has, or do we need to charge it before use?

Once it is plugged in and charging, we find the instructions and read them. At first quickly, then much more slowly. How much slowly? Good question. In my experience, reading the instructions creates new mysteries that require very slow reading speeds.

Let’s see, what does this gadget connect to, and is it online with the internet? If so, what is the account number for that site? And do you remember your password? Once that’s sewn up, they ask for an account for the new gadget, and hopefully we don’t confuse usernames and passwords among the several accounts. We did this recently and we were launched on a never-ending new account creation spree that spun our heads.

Once all this is settled, however, the enigma of routine use begins. Just how do you turn the thing on? What options of use do I have with it? What would be optimum for my routines? What is adjustable and what is not.

Now, I understand this gadget accesses several books and publications readily on the market. How much is each, is this permanent or a rental for so many days? And how fast is the download once a selection is made. Let us not forget how to access the book once it is in our memory bank and we are ready to open and read it.

When reading is over, how does the publication get returned to the online library? Is that automatic or do I need to do something specific? And how do I access the next selection? Do I search by author, title, book genre or publisher? Perhaps all are available search handles? Ah. So they are. That should make finding the right book easy. Now all I have to do is learn the process necessary to obtain the selection.

Hope they don’t ask for my username or password again! Last time that took a day and a half to get right.

December 22, 2022

 

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