Overcoming fears of new technology may be slow, adventurous

Overcoming fears of new technology may be slow, adventurous

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I warm up to technology at a slow pace, or maybe I am just cautious. I love my computers and my Fitbit. That’s my technology. Enter new technology, and I am nervous. Do you relate?

Now, other family members love their Kindle, Smartphones, tablets, and various games, but I just like the good old predictable programs I am comfortable with. Sure, when my computer updated to Windows 10, I was a bundle of nerves, but I like it. When I need a new computer or device, I like to learn where to find what I want, to learn what programs I have, and to set it up just as I would like it. I get comfortable with how it is supposed to work. Then I keep it that way. I notice right away if a kid of mine messes with my technology. I have it the way I like it for a reason.

But don’t you want this new gadget, this new format, this new whatever? No. Just leave it as it was. There isn’t anything wrong with the old. I know what to expect and can work quickly on it because I know how it works. Change it and my world slows down. I get stressed because I cannot find it, or I have done something and can’t figure out how to get it back.

Some will say that I should be more adventurous and play with my technology, get comfortable with it in new ways. Friends who have computer businesses assure me that if I mess it up, they can fix it. I know that, but that isn’t the point. I don’t want to mess it up and have to bother them to clean up my mess. I want to know how I made that mess so I don’t make it again. I want to not make the mess in the first place so that I don’t spend hours—waste—them trying to fix something that if I had avoided making the mess in the first place, I would have got accomplished whatever it was that I desired so much to accomplish.

When I am learning something new, I like to write the steps down so that as I learn and become comfortable with whatever it is, I have a road map of sorts so that I won’t get lost so fast or as easily. Somehow, I always manage to still need help, but after I’ve gone through something a few times, I remember how to do it. I like to have someone explain it. Sometimes I can read it and do it, but then I like to have moral support around, just in case. This annoys certain members of my family. I don’t know how I got this way or even why I am this way. It is. Life goes better if people just understand, but then everyone is busy and easily exasperated.

This brings me to the latest technology mountain in my life. My husband bought me a Smartphone. For years I had an old flip Tracfone that I was comfortable texting—albeit slowly—and calling with. That’s really all that I need; but then there is a part of me that sees all the cool stuff everyone else can do so a wrestling began inside me about whether I really needed this and whether it was a good use of money. My practical side and my want to be up-to-date side argued, and while my husband listened, he went ahead and got me one anyway.

So now I’m busy figuring out my phone and my apps. I have the maps app for my directionally dysfunctional self. I have my weather app so I can check radar before taking a walk. I worried about figuring out all this technology. It’s going well, though once in a while some male person in my household may be heard sighing or groaning and advising me to “play” around with it.

“You can’t hurt it,” they say.

Well, I hope they are right.

How do you feel about new technology?

6 Replies to “Overcoming fears of new technology may be slow, adventurous”

  1. How do I feel about technology? You just said it for me. I agree with all you said. I don’t have a Smartphone yet, and when I want to do something on the computer, I want to DO it, not have to figure out how to do it. Thanks for sharing my sentiments for me.

  2. Thanks for sharing. Your article struck a cord with me. I have a tendency to feel stress when trying out new technology, even though I am somewhat “geeky”. Every new gadget or system have a learning curve to it, and it takes nerves to go through the process to reach competency. With today’s rapid pace of changes in technology, we just have to keep on learning to stay updated. It took a major conscious push for me to switch to a smartphone and I’m still learning. Slow is better than never. I hope you will enjoy your new adventure. 🙂

    1. Thanks, Kierra, for writing and for the encouragement. It is nice to know that someone “geeky” pushes through the nerves too. I appreciate you saying slow is better than never. 🙂 Moving at our own pace is getting us somewhere. 🙂 You are SO right when you talk about how fast everything changes. It is hard to keep up! I am enjoying the smartphone. It’s confidence building for the next new thing, right? 🙂 Have a great weekend! Good luck on tackling your technology mountains also!

  3. I’m with you, Michelle! I don’t mind change, but it’s happening so rapidly now, you don’t have time to breathe, much less learn to use the technology to its fullest!

    I resisted getting a smartphone mostly because I have no desire to have a phone rule my life like it does so many people nowadays. My landline works just fine. 🙂 I did eventually get a TracFone smartphone, but it’s off more than it’s on, and that’s just fine with me. 🙂

    1. I can say that I never learn a device to its fullest potential because of the changes and because there is only so much time in the day to play around. I like my landline also. You are right about folks constantly checking their phones. It seems the more technology is supposed to free us up, the more it seems to enslave us to jump to its every ding. 🙂 I don’t want that to happen. It is always good to set boundaries and keeping it off helps keep from being distracted, I’m sure! Thanks for writing!

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