« Friday Feathers - In the Zoo | Main | Ancestry.com's Military Collection »
May 31, 2007
Mom, Me and Technology
For as long as I can remember, my mom has followed Microsoft and Bill Gates with an intensity that's always stupified me. Mom would telephone me at all hours wanting to discuss the latest Microsoft hoo-hah and "Billy." She'd say, "I want to talk about Billy" and I'd say, Billy WHO? as if I should know instinctively that she meant Bill Gates. As an Apple devotee, I'd roll my eyes at her obvious enthusiasm for Gates. When did this happen and who is this woman I thought was my mom? She's a PC and I'm a Mac. Commercial joke aside, that's the way it's always been with us.
Where mom gets her interest in tech is beyond me; she doesn't have a computer nor has she indicated any desire for one. Though she doesn't have the hardware and software readily available to her, she knows who does (that would be me) and it doesn't stop her from phoning in her requests -- Google searches, emails to family members, asking for a downloadable copy of something she saw on the news. Her first online experience was in the mid '90s when I was at her house one night with my laptop. Mom wanted to see how the Web worked. "Show me how it works. Take me to the Playboy Web site!" she demanded, having read something about that site and wanting to see it for herself. *shrug* Then there was the day in '05 when she signed up for a computer class at the local library. I asked her how it went and she replied, "I Googled!" LOL. She claimed she visited only a few sites, but I KNOW she spent all her time on MSN. I just know it. ;-)
Mom's Microsoft obsession popped into my head this morning while I watched the videos of the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interview from the D Conference. There was something about listening to Jobs and Gates, seeing them both together side-by-side, something that jumped into my bloodstream that got me all hot and bothered about technology all over again. (Go figure!) With my enthusiasm at a full boil, I telephoned my mom to tell her all about it. After listening to me gush about the interview mom said, "Oh I saw that yesterday. Explain that table to me." I thought, Table? WHAT table? It took me a minute to realize that mom wasn't talking about the interview, she was talking about Surface, Microsoft’s first surface computer. [Insert image here of my jaw dropping to the floor.] She asked me to give her the details about it. After launching into a mega stutter, I replied, "uh... uh... uhm... I'll have to get back to you on that after I do some research., to which she replied, "Well what's wrong with you? You should KNOW about it. You like this stuff! Fire up that craptop and hop to it!"
Did she just say CRAPtop?
*chuckle*
My geek friends have always been curious about my interest in technology and where my passion for it came from (cuz you know girls just aren't into tech and geek stuff.) I'd always say I must have been a geek in a previous life, simply because I could never quite figure out where my interest in tech came from. (Right out of left field, never on my radar, whodathunkit.) Today's discussion with my mom had me thinking that maybe the geek in a previous life is my mom and not me. She was the geek and I was her offspring; mom gets worked up about Microsoft and I am prone to fits of passion over Mac stuff.
You know it's a funny thing. In the Q&A portion of the interview (Part 7, second to last question), both Jobs/Gates talk about seniors. (Mom would've loved it.) Had she seen/listened to the interview, mom would have opined that Jobs was a bit pompous, spent too much time doing product P.R. and talked too much. She would have given her Billy Gates high marks for eloquence, friendliness and humbleness. (I'd have to give him high marks too.) My mom may not have a computer (note: she doesn't want one) but she knows what's going on at Microsoft. I'll bet she knows what's going on at Apple too, though she'd NEVER mention it to me. Her marked interest in technology prompts a vision of her; she may claim she's outside doing gardening, but I can't help but think that she's really holed up in some super secret room in her house writing software programs for Microsoft.
Cindy
Comments
Well for goodness' sake--why don't you get her a simple PC? I even got one for my dad when he was 90, though he was too afeared to use it.
Brain matter deposited by: susan on May 31, 2007 5:15 PM
Susan - cuz she doesn't want one. *shrug*
Brain matter deposited by: Cindy on May 31, 2007 5:48 PM
She should have one :-)
Brain matter deposited by: Joost Plattel on June 1, 2007 5:23 AM
Your ma is a closet geek -- that's just fantastic :)
Brain matter deposited by: Greg on June 4, 2007 10:13 AM
Maybe Billy (Sir William) is the closest thing to royalty that Americans have :-)
Here, older ladies get all excited about Charlie and Willy Windsor instead :-)
Then again, maybe she is being PC to stir you :-)
Brain matter deposited by: Ozguru on June 5, 2007 6:46 PM