Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley
\nDecember 2008 Issue
\nNovember 3, 2008<\/p>\n
The Multiple Computer Household<\/strong><\/p>\n With five computers, I used to think my wife and I were unusual. We were at one time, I\u2019m certain, but now I am finding \u201cnormal\u201d households with even more computers.<\/p>\n A college professor I know had three systems for herself, one for her two children, and two for her husband. Eventually, she said with some resignation, she\u2019ll have two teenagers and each son will want his own system.<\/p>\n How did this happen? It was one thing to have two kids, two cars, and two televisions. Now, we have three, four, or even five computers in a house. A September 2008 report by IDC, a technology consulting firm, suggests we should count computers per individual instead of systems per household. The average \u201cInternet savvy\u201d household has 3.11 computers and 2.25 people, one survey found.<\/p>\n We hate to part with computers that still work. Recycling a computer generally means giving it to a relative or friend. You can only give away so many systems until you end up keeping some of the older hardware. This is how my wife and I ended up with a semi-retired computer in our utility\/hobby area \u2014 near the ironing board and the soothing sounds of a washer and dryer.<\/p>\n As strange as it sounds, you can check your e-mail while waiting for the rinse cycle to end. I\u2019ve also checked sports scores while I was waiting for the iron to warm. My father always had a radio in his hobby area, while I have a computer.<\/p>\n We keep filing cabinets with old papers near the utility area. This means we can use the old computer, via our home network, to verify business, medical, and school data located on another computer in our office. Before having a computer in the utility area, we\u2019d have to retrieve an old-fashioned hanging file folder and walk upstairs. Imagine the time we\u2019re saving. Okay, probably next to none, but it sure feels efficient.<\/p>\n This \u201cdownstairs\u201d computer was manufactured in 2002. It was our primary computer until this September. Over the years, I added memory and a new hard drive to the system. But, it finally reached a point when it could not run the latest and greatest software. The amazing thing is that according to our records we spent less than $500 over the last six years upgrading and maintaining the system. Including the purchase price, $1499, that\u2019s $2000 for 7 years of work. For under $25 a month, that computer proved its value.<\/p>\n Heck, I just paid $1000 for \u201cregularly scheduled\u201d maintenance on a Jeep. It costs me a lot more than $25 a week and doesn\u2019t help with the taxes, store family recipes, or surf the Web.<\/p>\n Replacing our retired friend is a new system with a 24-inch LCD monitor and all the latest features. I expect we might eventually add memory, but memory is a lot cheaper today than it was just four or five years ago. Cheap upgrades will keep this system running for another six to seven years.<\/p>\n The new system is already home to our household finances, genealogy data, recipes, and homework assignments. The system will earn its keep because without it neither of us could complete our graduate degrees. Design software my wife uses for her master\u2019s courses and the statistical software I needed for my doctoral project each wanted (demanded) a newer computer.<\/p>\n If the software hadn\u2019t required a new computer, we probably would have delayed upgrading at least another year. It was a generational shift, forced onto us by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Adobe Creative Suite. Our old friend just couldn\u2019t keep up anymore. New software seems to reveal the limits of old computers.<\/p>\n But that leaves three computers. Incredibly enough, I can explain why we have them.<\/p>\n With both of us doing homework and some freelance writing, two home systems meant we didn\u2019t have to compete for computer time. Also, my little home office system makes use of an old keyboard and monitor we had retained from systems passed along to relatives. And I do mean \u201clittle\u201d system. It\u2019s a Mac mini, about the size of a textbook.<\/p>\n I keep my \u201cfun money\u201d accounting on the system along with my personal and business e-mail. My home system is where I store anything I wouldn\u2019t want in the hands of a stranger. I would never put accounting information on a laptop computer. I\u2019m just too paranoid to risk having personal data stolen.<\/p>\n Also, my wife has a rule about games and the \u201cserious\u201d computer. You can guess what the rule is: the office computer is not a toy. My card games, classic board games, and other amusements are on the Mac mini. I admit to a solitaire and chess addiction, fed between grading papers and writing my dissertation.<\/p>\n This leaves the two notebook computers.<\/p>\n My original PowerBook is now my wife\u2019s \u201cnote taking\u201d computer. It is a small, 12-inch computer that travels well to the university with her. It\u2019s nearly five years old. Again, memory has been added and a larger hard drive installed. A laptop is almost essential for a graduate student, and this computer has now served both of us well.<\/p>\n Last year, I received a technology grant in return for research I conducted. Buying a second laptop was like getting a second car \u2014 we could each take one to work or school. So, we now have five computers.<\/p>\n The professor I mentioned at the start of this column has a similar story. A top-notch system is great, and even necessary to her work in digital media, but she can\u2019t take a monstrous tower to class. Instead, she has a super-portable Sony that goes to class and on trips. And, like us, she couldn\u2019t part with a loyal friend, an old tower she had used to edit audio and videotapes. You never know when someone might ask her to convert a VHS tape to DVD.<\/p>\n It seems we are now in the era of the multiple computer household. I guess it was only a matter of time until there were more computers than people in our homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley December 2008 Issue November 3, 2008 The Multiple Computer Household With five computers, I used to think my wife and I…<\/p>\n