Posted on: Tuesday, September 7, 2004

ABOUT WOMEN
High tech great — if it works

By Tanya Bricking Leach
Advertiser Staff Writer

Not to sound like a cranky grandmother (could I be turning into one already?), but I'm going back to writing my important stuff with pen and paper instead of all of this digital-age business.

I've always been technologically challenged, but now my gadgets are turning on me.

My cell phone just ate all my phone numbers and quit working. The company that sold it to me said my phone was obsolete and there was nothing they could do, except suggest I look on the Internet for a battery to fit my old model if I really needed the numbers.

My husband's digital camera also went kaput, and that company said it would cost as much to fix it as to buy a new one.

It seems to me a real technological innovation would be to create something that continues to work instead of something that's phased out a year later.

But I guess I had the same idea about cars, and I don't see the world embracing my philosophy on making do with the old ones.

I think I must be missing the gadget-fanatic chromosome.

It took me longer than most people to realize PDA didn't just mean public display of affection. People were talking about personal digital assistants. Somehow, the new PDA didn't sound so seductive.

I'm computer literate, but I've never burned a CD or upgraded everything my computer suggests I upgrade. I've just never really trusted the idea of doing everything digitally.

My husband, on the other hand, has fully embraced all things electronic.

Until he discovered I liked greeting cards, I barely knew what his handwriting looked like.

The man didn't even own a paper address book. He had what he needed in the palm of his hand, and it never bothered him if he didn't have anyone's addresses for Christmas cards. He didn't send Christmas cards.

Then I noticed when people traded phone numbers, they pulled out their cells and PDAs to do it.

So I started to do the same thing, forgetting the important life lesson learned the time my computer hard drive crashed, when I vowed to back everything up from there on out.

I guess I only care about technology if it makes my life easier. While I hate that gadgets sometimes fail me, I would hate to be without the convenience of technology.

I still get a thrill out of reading loops of penmanship in a greeting card and personal histories documented in old address books.

So I'm going back to the system that works for me.

I'm starting a fresh book of Really Important Stuff, where I'll record addresses and phone numbers and just wait to cross something out and squeeze more details in the margins.

And it's about time I sent my grandma a postcard. I'll have to tell her how I'm taking after her these days.

Tanya Bricking Leach writes about relationships. Reach her at 525-8026 or tleach@honoluluadvertiser.com.