I'm typing today's message on my brand new laptop - an XPS M1210 from Dell - and the process of getting it up and running has been fraught with excitement, frustration, anxiety, fun, and - when I get over all the above, I'm certain there will be learning too.
Certainly I'll learn about VISTA and how to make use of its many features that now baffle me. I hope that I'll also retain a little learning from the set-up process. A few lessons so far.
1. New toys are fun. I should savor the whole thing from the UPS truck backing down the driveway, to opening the box, to setting a gorgeous photograph as my desktop. And I could try to be highly evolved enough to savor even the frustrating parts of a new toy.
2. Instructions rarely tell me everything I need to know - especially when something is new like VISTA - and compatability between Vista and programs isn't yet clear in the minds of people who should know.
3. Vista doesn't have to be capitalized like VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America as I was in 1975 and 76).Hmm... I apparently retain old information far longer than is necessary and maybe I need to dump some of that so there's room for new learning. Hmmm... This will bear thinking about.
4. I should ask for help sooner. DUH! How many times does that life lesson have to slap me in order for me to get it? I usethe excuse that I haven't always gotten good help when I have asked. But clearly Dell knows a lot of tricks about the inside workings of my little laptop than I ever will know. I should learn to seek people who know and not waste so much time trying to figure out what I haven't the tools to figure out. DUH!
5. When I do ask for help, I should not check my own brain at the door. Herman from Dell and I were on the phone for something close to 5 hours yesterday. Just trying to fix one little problem. Well it was a big problem. I couldn't get Internet Explorer to work. And neither could he. Finally at about 4 hours into the process, I asked, "Is it time to get more help?" And then he came up with a solution of starting over from scratch - and after that everything went much better - even though it didn't immediately fix the problem.
6. Buy a new computer before your old one dies - and don't be in a hurry to ditch the old one. I'd have been sunk! In deep mire! Fortunately, I still have an operable system - slow and cumbersome that it may be - that can augment the new until my learning reaches an as yet unforeseeable comfort level.
6. This too shall pass. Truthfully I can't say that I fully believe this one in my gut yet. Maybe I won't believe it until I can say it's time to put the old computer out to pasture. But for now, my head believes that the new will become accustomed, and I'm trying to listen more to the head than the gut for awhile.
There are probably dozens of other learnings too - but I don't have time to focus on them now. I have to get back to making this switch work!
I hope your week will also be filled with learning and fun new toys - but maybe without the need for a 5 hour customer service call!
More info on April's Telewebinar next week - when all the files are on the same computer ( I hope! )
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