I grew up in Michigan, and moved out to the Pacific Northwest with the United States Navy. I immediately fell in love with the region, and then fell in love with my magnificent wife. After our enlistments were over, we got married and raised two wonderful children.
As our family was growing, technology was growing as well. In very few years, chat messages, social media, and trolls were part of many people’s everyday language. Almost everyone began learning new vocabulary and new skills at an extremely rapid pace. The entire world was available live, 24 hours a day.
Navigating that new landscape took a while to get used to, but certain themes have emerged. There is a real need to be able to filter the internet so we can more easily access the things we are interested in and want to do. And in pursuing those, we have to contend with the constant barrage of distractions and disruptions that inconvenience us. The tension between those–the endless attractions available at the click of a mouse, and all the difficulties that impede our ability to explore them–can make computers and the internet seem impenetrable.
Advertising makes it look simple, but when you start to use the device itself, or the software, or the app … things change. Even the simplest app has a lot of buttons, and many people are convinced that one of those buttons will most likely break the entire internet. And this fear isn’t entirely unjustified: There are all sorts of nonsense words and phrases associated with those buttons, so you may not have any idea what you’re actually pressing.
Finding your way through this new terrain doesn’t have to be scary. You may need guidance, or a little encouragement, but you can do it. It’s only takes the willingness to try, and push some buttons.
michaelkyer.net 