From a Technophobe to a Gadget-man...

I resisted the frenzy of having DSL for years, like many other modern things such as cell phone, electric coffee maker, computers, palm pilots digital cameras etc.

And keep telling myself, what were people doing 40 years ago?!

I am not a Technophobe and in fact use hi-tech equipment all the time at work and consider myself savvy with them. Just did not want them in my home…. always looked for simplicity and practicality… even thou today’s practicality does not go well all the way with the simplicity.

Six years ago I gave in to buying a cell phone after every one was complaining that I am not accessible at all them!

All the time?! That was exactly my argument too, I don’t want to be accessible “At all times”… family would call me sometimes and say “where have you been? You don’t answer your cell phone? And I had to put aside my mild accommodating manners and say that “there are times in the day that I may be in the washroom or shower or sleep or in a meeting etc… please don’t ask me that question any more!… and that was that…

I had to buy a computer because my wife, (my fiancée at that time) wanted to chat with me…

I got an electric coffee maker because French Press was not convenient for everyone!

Got s digital camera because my SLR camera was too big and complicated for people etc,

Back to the DSL story. Finally with a great push from my wife I gave in last week and ordered it.

Last night I plugged in all the wires and restarted my iMac. I was not surprised to see that my Mac automatically recognized the new signal and connected to the net…. Could not be easier than that!...

Too proud of my easy accomplishment came an urge in me to see what the CD that came with the modem is?! Maybe it has something extra in it… so I installed that and as soon as it happened my computer went wacko… make the long story short, lots the connections….

Early this morning I called the Tec support and after bunch of selections on the automated phone options found a live tech to help me, but here comes the interesting part.

He sounded very strange, as if I was talking to a robot, but with personality! And there were these short gaps in his talks too.

After talking for 30min he could not still help me and I had to leave so we postpone the help session. All this time I was having this distracting thought, wondering “where is he from?!”

I even asked him but he went silent!

My speculation is that he could be in a call center in China or India some where and had his voice enhanced with computers so customers would not recognize his accent (Not that I have problem with accents, In fact I may have one too … )

I hoped to talk to him again.

In the evening I called again and talked to someone else but with the same computerized accent!
Now I am using DSL…. inadvertently I am turning into a gadget-man