Have Laptop Will Travel

Before the Laptop, There Was the Handwritten Journal

Originally posted on January 22, 2013 @ 11:08 pm

Image: domesticdandy

Travel journalists of today are commonly seen with a portable laptop by their side.  For many, a laptop has become an indispensable partner in journaling and documenting their travels.  It is worth remembering that before the laptop, there was the handwritten travel journal.

The handwritten travel journal evokes romance of a time when things were done the traditional way, the old-fashioned way.  A written travel journal can be one of the most prized possessions of a traveler because it is personal and the actions that accompany it are memorable.  There is still a certain flow that can never be like the pen and paper.

As a writer sits contemplating on what to write or what has transpired so far in his/her travel, the wheels of creativity are initiated and the emotions of events captured in handwritten words.  The proceeding actions are almost like part of a solemn ritual that will be repeated over and over again every time a travel journal is opened and used.

Many writers have successfully merged handwritten travel journaling and high-tech travel journaling through the use of gadgets.  The use of technology has not necessarily junked handwritten work.  In fact, it has been enhanced in more ways than one because of the features offered by gadgets.

The use of both options provide flexibility. Not every place in a traveler’s route would allow for the use of laptops or any other gadgets.  During these situations, pen and paper can save the day.  It is much too difficult to rely on pure memory.  Important details have to be recorded somehow.  A laptop and hard bound travel journal, they do work well together.

The Indispensable Work Partner

Originally posted on July 31, 2012 @ 10:13 am

I have two indispensable companions in my love for writing, the paper and the pen.  It has been that way ever since I first had the urge to write something about my thoughts, my feelings, and my experiences.  I thought it would always be that way.  And then I began to write for a living…

Much as I would like to have preserved the old-fashioned way of writing with simply a paper and a pen, I found it impossible to cope up with the load of work without having an equipment to depend on.  My knowledge about the use of the computer is dubious at best.  I was very hesitant to use it as I found my mind unwilling to learn it.  I tried to stick with with my old ways and found someone to enter my work in the computer but things still was kind of slow because I had to wait for that person to do it.

I was literally at the crossroads, wanting to write but not wanting to learn the ways that could make me write at the present pace.  The love for writing prevailed, a decision made a lot easier by a personal gift of a laptop by someone who probably could’t stand how I was making it difficult for myself and others as well.  My indispensable work partner has finally arrived. 

My first days with my partner was characterized by much confusion since my knowledge of it started with zero.  There was much frustration and fear when I cannot get it to work like I want it to.  It took me a while to get accustomed to it until the day came that I was finally comfortable using it.  In fact now, I cannot imagine myself without it.  My laptop is my indispensable work partner in writing.

The Laptop in the Hands of a Child

Originally posted on January 23, 2012 @ 4:27 am

            

How will two identical laptops fare in the hands of a child from a highly-developed country and a child from a developing country? For the purpose of easier comparison, let us all think for a while in the line of the advantages associated with the privileged and the limitations related to the less-privileged.  A laptop in the hands of a child from the US or UK is probably a necessity in studying.  Almost every child of school-age will have one or at least have easy access to one.  On the other side of the world particularly in countries like Cambodia or Ethiopia, a laptop is a luxury, falling behind a long list of more pressing necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing.

Given this reality, all children regardless of status in life would want to have equal access to the opportunities presented by technology and whatever advancement it brings.  This would probably explain the pictures of joy as seen on the recipients’ faces after receiving their own laptop through the highly-controversial “One Laptop Per Child” or OLPC initiative.  After having to share one textbook with at least five other kids in class, is it at all surprising to feel such amazement in having a technological gadget which one can call his/her own?

Children who have automatic access to equipments such as a laptop are not only lucky because of  their availability but also because of the prevailing physical convenience around them and the level of support available to them to maximize its use.  The same cannot be said for the recipients of the free laptop in a third world country who obviously do not have the capacity and the ability to maximize the use of what they got.  Unless a government agency or a non-government organization makes sure that the recipients and the teachers have been properly supported by funding and training, we can be pretty sure that the laptop will just go back straight to the box, never to serve its purpose of education.

Such wasted money for the purchasing country, such wasted learning opportunity for the child.

 

 

 

Is standing the new sitting?

Originally posted on September 8, 2011 @ 8:59 am

Computing mobility has opened the world up for increased productivity, allowing us to continue work wherever we are. But with every benefit there is also usually a cost, and unfortunately, it’s our health that has gotten the bad end of the deal. With more people stuck behind their computers even when working remotely our general health suffers because of our prolonged sitting to use a computer. [Read more…]

My Wife, The Mac Convert (From the Archives)

Originally posted on January 31, 2011 @ 10:03 pm

My wife’s Macbook is officially two weeks old and all indications point to a new member of the Church of Jobs.

She has taken to the Mac like a duck to water. I’ve noticed that she’s not afraid to tinker with the Mac’s many features. She only needed me to show her some basic stuff from the first three days and after that it was her, unguided, all the way. She even pushed me away when she said she wanted to play a CD. She said she can figure it out.

I think that the Apple OS is really the every-OS. The configuration is just easy and there is a wide room for error. Compare that with Windows where an untracked error could spell disaster at some point. It’s like walking through a minefield–and only those with a preternatural ability to memorize Windows quirks can navigate it with a degree of confidence. My father-in-law is the perfect example here. He believes that he is one of these people but, unfortunately, he is not. This only means that his PCs conk out after a mere two months.

I’m quite happy my wife is having fun with her Mac and just to join in on the fun, I just might get one myself next year.