SHOULD I BUY A COMPUTER?

By Dave Wallace

RIVER BENDER - February 1998

"A computer is the last thing in the world that I need!" That's what some people say when I ask if they surf the Web. Many have never even owned or used a computer. Some have a dread fear of them while others relegate their use to office help, nerds and the like. "What in the world would I ever use one for anyway?" they ask.

In case you haven't tuned in, the World Wide Web is where it's happening and you're going to miss out if you don't get going. Twenty five years ago a computer buff prophesized that someday we'd sit in front of a computer and click on a frog and get a message, click on the frog's eye and get another and finally start dissecting the frog, click at a time. It was a far-fetched prediction because computers couldn't even display pictures then. Hey, we're there! That's what the World Wide Web is all about. It is the most humongous source of instant information that's ever existed. Click, click, click with a mouse and one travels anywhere in the world to get any information about any subject. You're in the driver's seat. Is this complicated? Not at all. Better yet, you don't even have to know how to type!

"Ah," you say, "but I've heard that lots of the stuff on the Web is pure junk!" True. I agree. One has to filter out the junk. There are lots of stupid people posting useless stuff on the Web but there's just the opposite. There's nothing wrong with comparing medical advice from Duke, Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic or looking up tax information from the IRS or stock prices from Rueuters. There's nothing stupid about searching for ancestors, people you went to high school with or looking for a recipe. Sometimes its even fun looking up stupid things like where did "dead as a doornail" come from..

"But I don't want my children browsing the web. I saw what they could get into." Right, this could be a problem but it's one recognized by many people although unsolved. Companies have developed software filters that prevent pornographic or violent material from being displayed but they're not foolproof. Some people want the Government to ban the material but the Supreme Court took care of that. In the meantime, the Government is working closely with private industry to develop a solution while the ACLU is looking over their shoulder.

"OK, I'm convinced and want to get on the World Wide Web. What kind of computer do I need?" Stay tuned for next month and we'll talk about it.