That Does Not Compute

"That Does Not Compute!!"

by Terry Jones

Do you remember that famous TV series called 'Lost in Space'.
There would be few who wouldn't remember the Jupiter II lost
in space with the Robinson Family, Dr Zachary Smith, Major
Don West and, of course, the Robot.

The Robots catch cry was "Danger, Danger Will Robinson" when
trouble was lurking or "That does not compute" when something
was not logical.

The phrase "That does not compute" springs to mind more often
than not as I deal with Family, Friends and Customers with
their computers, VCR's and other electronic equipment.

What doesn't compute is why you pay so much to use so little
of the power of a device such as a modern day computer. You
are paying $1500 - $2000 for a device to play games.

Now come on ... hands up all those people who bought a
computer for their kids to play games ... OK ... there's one ..
two ... three ... yes there's quite a few.

Now your saying to yourself "Well what else would I do with it
because I don't run a business" and therein lies my point. You
don't have to be running a business to get the most out of your
computer ...

OR

.... why NOT run a part time business and try and get some of
that investment back.

Here is a list of personal/business uses for your 'toy' -

1. Build a Catalogue/Index of your favorite recipes
2. Research and build your family tree
3. Search the Internet for any sort of information
4. Create your own family or Business web site
5. Use it to run design software for quilts (this is a use
one of my friends uses it for). There are tons of software
programs out there that allow you to design almost anything.
6. Catalogue your collection of whatever you collect (stamps,
comics, figurines, books, toy cars etc)
7. Shop online
8. Buy Goods like cars, white goods, furniture.
9. Sending and receiving email
10.Keep a list of personal and business contacts
11.Let your kids research their homework on the internet
12.Do an online course of study
13.Complete a degree or Diploma
14.Book Airline tickets, accomodation, holidays
15.Plan your holiday or trip online
16.Buy and sell goods through an online auction i.e. ebay
17.View and Buy a house
18.Design your own dream home
19.Put an inexpensive web camera on your PC and have a video
conference
20.Do Video editing
21.Create Video tutorials of your favorite subject
22.Research your favorite pastime/hobby
23.Send a protest to your politcal representative
24.Scan, edit and store your photos
25.Write a book
26. Write your family history
27.Submit your tax returns electronically
28.Do your banking online
29.Pay your bills online
30. OK, I'll concede ... play some games as well!

This list is just off the top of my head ...
.... you can use your computer for any imaginable task e.g.
In the not too distant future your computer will run your
house for you.

The one thing that stops you from doing any or all of these
things now is a lack of the basic understanding/knowledge
of your computer. Sure your reading this article so that
means you can receive email or browse the web but what
happens if they don't work any more? Do you have enough basic
knowledge to rectify the simple problems or would you rather
wait for your computer to be 'fixed' by the local technician?

More than 80% of most computer problems could be resolved
with just some basic computer know-how. I have known people
to go without a computer for a few days only to find a cord
was loose on their mouse.

Your first task after buying a computer should be to learn
about the basics of your computer. There are online courses,
college courses and tutors available to help you do just that.

So take the initiative and get the most out of your
computer otherwise you are wasting your time money and
'That does not compute!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terry Jones has been involved in the Computer Support industry
for 20 years and is the author of "Computerese ... make your
computer easy", "Keyboard Capers", "Conquering Windows 98" and
"Fun with Files & Formatting". He can be contacted by email to -
Terry@tell-me-how.com OR http://www.Tell-Me-How.com