After a few days with the relatives, I've had a chance to reset my tech-centric self with a good dose of real-world tech use. There were no conversations about RSS, the intricacies of Google's search algorithm, blog platforms, Web 2.0 business models, JavaScript, or PHP. However, there were plenty of tech-related conversations. Here are a ten that come to mind:
1. Helping someone recover the hard drive that disappeared from his laptop. Success. It became physically dislodged somehow.
2. Explaining the value of upgrading beyond 512MB RAM for a college student's computer. Well worth it, and the RAM is on the way.
3. Discussing the photo quality of small digital cameras. I've been impressed with my new
Canon SD 600.
4. Explaining Net Neutrality after seeing the
misinformation commercial I wrote about last week running on Comcast cable.
5. Explaining the benefits of PCs vs. Macs for a college student in a band. Sticking with the PC for now, but will probably buy a Mac next.
6. Showing someone how iMovie works after showing her a video I made for Christmas. It's on her Mac but she hasn't tried it yet.
7. Showing someone my
Flickr photos. Realizing that Flickr's interface is painfully hard to use by people with less than 10,000 hours of touch pad or mouse experience.
8. Explaining the difference between RAM and a hard drive.
9. Receiving a dead iPod as a non-gift giveaway because the hard drive stopped spinning.
10. Showing someone how to navigate their very first iPod.
How about you? What sort of tech questions or conversations do you encounter while visiting friends and family that differ from your everyday life?
