Officially Obsolete

WordPress doesn’t like my computer any more, and that kind of ticks me off. In actuality, it is probably my browser that it doesn’t like, but that doesn’t tick me off any less. It all started a couple of months ago when I logged in to WordPress and tried to create a new post. I prepare my posts on my computer, writing and editing them in Microsoft Office and, creating or cropping and resizing images in PhotoShop, which I own as part of Adobe Creative Suite. This photo process is important for me to get the images to be the exact size required, not larger, and to appear just the way I want them to. What shows up in that little preview square is important to the graphic designer in me. I know, it’s very anal of me. Anyway on this particular day a couple of months ago, I went to copy my text from Word into WordPress and it just wouldn’t do it. It wouldn’t paste. I tried it many times including several workarounds that the techie side of me used to do in the past before retirement. Also, around the same time, WordPress would off and on decide not to cooperate when I tried to set my feature image. 

So there I was with a post I couldn’t publish. My workaround for this was to email all the stuff to my gmail account and put the post together on my iPad. On the little screen of my iPad. This is what I have been doing ever since. It’s a royal pain in the ass. The App for WordPress isn’t as all encompassing as the web version so I log into the web version to create my posts. In my opinion, neither one is great for creating a post on an iPad. I couldn’t imaging trying to do it on a smart phone. Every time I need to highlight something or edit something, it becomes a monumental task that is further hindered by the keyboard window or some other open window taking up half the screen or covering the area where I am trying to work. Between my poor spelling skills and my ability to sometimes run off at the mouth (or run on in the fingers), there is always something to change or edit after it is formatted. Then there is adding photos. I save the emailed photos to my photo collection but they are filed in accordance to their original creation date, not my most recent resized, and resaved date. There are a lot of images on my iPad so finding the one I want is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Copy and past doesn’t seem to work for uploading the featured image although it does work for in-post images. 

I have a MacBook that I plug into a large monitor and a full-size keyboard . Plus I have a very comfortable chair with lumbar support. A proper ergonomic setup is necessary to keep my neck and shoulders happy. My set up allows me to look straight ahead and have everything at the right height when I work. My MacBook is a great computer. I have been using Macs since the 80’s and have owned four or five over the years. My current one has no problems. All my software runs great for my current needs. It has never crashed or let me down. However, my laptop was purchased in 2010 and like all technology it is the victim of obsolescence. Certain websites don’t support my browser, which can no longer be upgraded because of hardware limitations. 

The obvious solution is to purchase a new computer, but there is a problem with this. None of my software will run on a new computer. In the past I would upgrade my computer and pay a reasonable fee to upgrade all my software. All I had to do was provide the serial numbers. This does not happen any more. All the software I use has transitioned to a subscription model that requires a monthly fee. All the software I use, all industry standard stuff and basically created by a couple of monopolies, is expensive for a retired graphic designer on a fixed income to rent. Especially when she has perfect working versions on her existing computer.  

Solution number two – attach my monitor to the iPad. Or at least I thought it might be a solution, but it appears that there are some problems with this as well. First, my monitor is as old as my laptop and the cables are now obsolete. And second, a monitor attached to an iPad just enlarges what’s on the iPad screen. Any work in an app is still done on the iPad screen–not the monitor. So that totally defeats the purpose because all those open windows will still be in the way. They will just be in two places. You can, however, attach a keyboard to an iPad so if word processing is the only thing you want to do with a pad connected to a monitor, go for it. 

In the process of researching solutions to my technology dilemma. I did come across wish lists by the real techies out there. They wish for things like better interaction between an iPad and an attached monitor and the ability to use a mouse. Oh wouldn’t that be nice. I really, really miss the mouse. I am very fond of the mouse. Right now I am no further ahead than I was a couple of months ago. I may even be further behind because I don’t want to change. I don’t want to keep chasing technology. I like the way that things were working for me. Does this make me old? Does this make both ME and my computer officially obsolete. Quite possibly. 

Thank you for reading. 

Photo: Jenn Stone

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