Boy, asking for a comment on technology could open a real floodgate from all of us. I read the other posts and found many that echoed my feelings, and many that seemed to make me feel left far, far behind! I started on a Tandy so long ago that I can't remember the year I bought it; I progressed as my children grew up and were exposed to computers in school and then in college. The Apple years didn't last very long, but they were a lot of fun. I took a few courses at the local community college to try to program (out of necessity), but soon decided that other people were paid to do that work.

The real impact came when it became apparent that computers and related technology would be the driving force in my work, my children's future, and our everyday lives. The first workshop I attended about THE INTERNET was wonderful - I just wasn't sure what we could do with it that day; or even begin to imagine what it could become. Although Al Gore did.

Cell phones, public access to GPS, wireless broadband, automated catalogs in libraries, circulation statistics at the touch of a key, Google as a noun and verb and part of our daily life, instant gratification for knowledge and shopping and communication and impersonal relationships, and hours spent isolated from other human beings. These are some of the technological changes in our society in a very short time period. Both good and bad.

I love the drudgery that technology has released us from - number crunching for example - but I also hate the impersonality of it. The buzzwordof multi-tasking makes me feel inadequate at times; if you can't juggle 7 1/2 things successfully and still stay ahead of the curve. . .