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Subject:Computer Phobia -- Overcoming it From:Marcia Coulter <notjust -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 30 Aug 1995 17:00:02 -0700
About 10 years ago -- when computers were considerably less friendly
than they are now -- my mother, a school secretary, was faced with the
need to use computers. She was frantic! "I'll never understand
those things."
Mom calmed down when my then-husband said:
"Using a computer is like driving a car. You don't have to
understand how it works to drive it."
With that thought in mind, Mom tackled the nasty thing again
and....Let's just say that now, my 66-year old mother is a lot closer
to being a computer geek than she is to being computer phobic.
Mom still says she doesn't understand it (wouldn't fit with her
self-image), but she has her own computer and she set up and maintains
church records, etc. Can't keep her off the thing.
I've used the car/computer comparison often since then, and nearly
always with good results. Most people *do* learn to drive; most people
*don't* work on their cars enough to have any sort of in-depth
understanding of them.
------------------
Marcia Coulter
notjust -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com