Hi Everyone,
As part of my preparations to go to Nigeria I used some of my shekels (most of them actually) to purchase an Internet device to help me feel more comfortable keeping in touch with all of you. I was looking at a Ipod apple device for a while, but was not pleased with the options of keyboards. I wanted to make this transition into cyberspace as easy for myself as I could and that meant having a usable nonvirtual keyboard. Boo had an Ipod and Pop as a Dell mini and I was talking to them about the bennefits and drawbacks of each. I ultimately decided that the Dell mini would suit my purposes better, but it is funny that it is really a lot more like a computer than the ipod.
I was talking to Derrill about this last night. He was actually very surprised that what I got looks more like a computer than a hand held. I have resisted being inculcated into computers so soundly. When my Dell mini came he opened it up and thought or said, this looks a little small (we also ordered a laptop to replace our more than 3 year old computer for better and quicker processing in Nigeria of online things). Derrill was able to figure out that it was a Dell mini upon further inspeciont. Oh, (the light comes on) that was all he had heard about my new machine was that it was a Dell mini. He was expecting to see a handheld device not a little computer. Surprise honey!
So, then Derrill asked me what the first thing that I was going to do on my new computer would be (apparently it was this blog). He joked that it might be watch Little House on the Prairie. I told him that wasn’t possible because I don’t have a cd drive, no disk drive at all actually. He was further surprised. I explained to him that the Dell mini to me is really just meant to be a glorified handheld with the ease of typing with a nice little keyboard (which I love by the way). It gives me comfort to start with a computer that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. It is less overwhelming. I think it will be a perfect transition device. Derrill even suggested it would be less tempting for him without all the bells and whistles ;).
---Joy
They did an experiment once where they showed people blurry pictures that gradually came into focus. They would then ask them at various stages what they thought they saw. The earlier they asked, the more likely people were to be wrong AND the more likely they were to hold those wrong opinions until it was blatantly obvious they were wrong. The effect was even larger if the experimenter told them "This is a sailboat" when it wasn't: they just believed it was a sailboat.
ReplyDeleteWhen the FedEx guy showed up, I was highly medicated, quite groggy, watching Twilight Zone while going through work papers, and otherwise disoriented. He told me he had a laptop for us. I was expecting a laptop and assumed this was my laptop, arriving surprisingly early.
It felt remarkably light, but okay. I opened it up and thought that was awfully small for 17". ... Maybe I only got the 15"? Inside the materials, it said "Inspiron," which I knew I had bought, so it must be my computer. Opening it up, I finally read "Inspiron Mini" and said "oops."
I had thought for some reason that the Mini was a tablet and when I saw a laptop was greatly confused. Getting the Mini was one of Joy's very first technological decisions without my advice or guidance (since I was in Africa at the time, she was advised by my parents). This has made it very fun as the first time Joy knows more about something technological than I do. She's enjoying it, as you can see.
:)