Thing 7

Well, this is a fairly easy assignment.

I love using new technological devices--although I tend to be a bit slow about purchasing them. I finally bought a digital camera last year and have enjoyed using it. I've been playing around with editing pictures, mainly using the Paint Accessory & Word's photo editing. Amazing the amount you can do with the very basic applications that come free on your computer.

I've owned a cell phone for only 2 years--bought a pre-paid cell phone that I only turn on to make outgoing calls. Like I've said before, I try not to spend a lot of money.

I'll get an MP3 player once I complete this challenge--free to all staff that complete the 23 things for PLYMC Discovering Library 2.0. Yippey!!! My favorite way to receive new tech.

I have chatted over the years, but really don't enjoy all the abbreviated words--brb wb l8tr. In some ways, it's easier just to write the word out rather than think of the shorthand version. Plus, reading someone else's can take a lot of time to puzzle out. I must admit that I've never text messaged--what I've read about it, though, looks like the same abbreviations as IM Chatting.

I'm very uninterested in e-books for my own personal use. I find scrolling through a great deal of text or just reading a few paragraphs on the monitor gets very hard on my eyes. Besides, scrolling text can give me motion sickness--just like scrolling through microfiche. I really prefer to print out and read the hard copy. I can see where it is really useful, though, as it gives greater access to some books for people. They can pull up an e-book at work or at home or on the road, for education or pleasure. Plus, scanned documents available through the web have been a plus for many people, particularly for genealogy.

The amount of programs available over the internet is just mind-boggling. I spent a lot of time trying to be really thorough with Flickr and its 3rd party mashups. I tried a lot, but I think I could probably spend weeks if I actually used every single one. And I would never really be done, as new ones are created constantly.

When you think about it, you really can't ever learn all technology because technology is constantly changing. Sometimes improving--sometimes not. New programs and devices come and go. You buy something all up to date, a minute later its old news and outdated. Still, the learning process is fun and great brain stimulation.