June 2001
Computing for the Bewildered. By Bill Hayles
Hello. This is the first of what I hope will be a regular monthly column aimed at newcomers to the world of computers and the Internet. Would you like to "get on line" or learn how to use a computer, but are put off by the jargon and the general aura of impenetrable mystery that the "experts" like to surround their specialist subject with? Then this column is for you. Every month I will endeavour to answer questions from Grapevine readers. The more basic the better. There are plenty of facilities and clubs for those who have already got started. This column is aimed at those who not only don't understand the difference between plain text and HTML, but haven't a clue what I'm talking about!
Since this is the first column, I don't have any questions yet, so I'll have to make some up. These are the sort of questions I've been asked and excuses I've been given many times as a tutor in Adult Education.
Q. Am I too old to learn to use a computer?
A. No!! People in their sixties, seventies and even eighties use computers every day.
Q. I can't type. Can I still learn to use a computer?
A. Yes!! Much of the time, you will be using a mouse, not the keyboard. You can learn to use the mouse in less than half an hour. When it comes to typing, then, yes, it helps to have basic keyboard skills, but these come with time and practice. You never need to be a "touch typist" - I'm not! Much of the time, it's knowing what to type rather than the speed with which you type it. A computer is very patient.
Q. I'm retired. What relevance does the Internet have to me?
A. The Internet is of great relevance to you. Want a cheap and effective way to send a letter to your grandchildren in Australia? Send them an e-mail! Need to keep in touch with events in Britain? Maybe your UK local paper is published on line. Have a medical problem? Join a group of people with the same problem world-wide and discover you are not alone. You're a bit less active than you were, and find it hard to get to the bank? Do your banking on the Internet.
Q. The equipment is too expensive
A. Secondhand computers are cheap, and are just as good at doing the things you will want to do as a brand new, expensive model.
Q. All this jargon confuses me. Why can't you talk in plain English?
A. As far as I can, I will. But the problem is that the English language doesn't have the words to describe the concepts used in computing, so either new words are invented (i.e. "bytes"), or we resort to TLAs. TLA? Three Letter Acronyms! When it comes to these terms, you don't need to know precisely what they mean or how they work, just a vague idea of what they refer to. Take, for example, the word "byte". I could give a technical definition, i.e a byte is eight bits. That leaves you none the wiser. A bit of what? A bit of paper, a bit of fluff? If I say that a byte is a unit of measurement, like a litre, that measures the amount of information that something can store, then hopefully that makes more sense. Unfortunately, like the peseta, the byte is very small. So we tend to talk of kilobytes (Kb, 1024 bytes), megabytes (Mb, 1048576 bytes, or 1024 kilobytes) and gigabytes (Gb, 1073741824 bytes or 1024 megabytes). So a computer with 64Mb of memory has twice the memory capacity of one with 32Mb.
OK, that's enough for today. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in the column, please e-mail it to questions@billnot.com.
Oh, I forgot, you probably don't have e-mail. Perhaps it's about time you did! Never mind, you can always leave your question at the CopiShop. I'm sorry, but I'm unable to answer questions personally.
Finally, the Saturday classes that I've been giving at the Oasis Centre have stopped for the summer. However, I will be starting all over again in the autumn. Full details will be in The Grapevine, and will also be given on the Internet at http://www.billnot.com.
If you have been, thanks for reading this.