I run an OLD system and I ask a lot of it. So, I am in constant fear of my old P166 (you read right 1 – 6 – 6) just refusing to go one day.
That fear was reinforced the other day when Robert Paterson posted this:
“My hard drive crashed this weekend. Back on air later next week.”
Simple, short and scary as hell when you think about how much important stuff we keep on our hard drives. Personal computers have moved beyond being simple machines that we use to get work done. They have grown to be an extension of ourselves.
As bloggers or even just as web surfers, we are our computers. Via my PC I am Liam the writer who can send documents around the world. My PC allows me to be so many different identities, each defined by their username and password, that I need to keep them written down on my bulletin board behind my desk (don’t bother looking – they’re cunningly concealed.)
Blogs and websites allow us to be someone in cyberspace that we’re not in the meatspace. PCs (or Macs) are the vehicles that drives us to the ball. Usernames and passwords provide the face and clothes, but it’s our computers that get us through the door.
Our lives are driven by digital data – bank cards, security codes, cell phones, PDAs, etc. When they break down, so do we. Being human is being machine is being connected.
Thankfully Robert is back in the saddle again and his great posts will continue, but it wasn’t easy. As Robert puts it:
“The last two days have been hell – I now understand how addicted I am and suffered terrible withdrawal.”
His experience was enough to send me out to the store to pick up some disks and start copying.
So remember, love your computer, treat it right and back up that data!
