Poll: Do you have a love-hate relationship with technology (computers, internet, CAT tools, etc.)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have a love-hate relationship with technology (computers, internet, CAT tools, etc.)?".
This poll was originally submitted by John Cutler
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, s... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have a love-hate relationship with technology (computers, internet, CAT tools, etc.)?".
This poll was originally submitted by John Cutler
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebekka Groß (X) 
Local time: 21:15
English to German
| Yes - love them when they're working, hate them when they're not | Mar 26, 2007 |
I never used to be a technophobe and working in localization usually am on speaking terms with my computer and the various software tools I use. But occasionally, just occasionally, I could throw the whole thing out of the window, like a couple of weeks ago when I tried to add a new laptop to my wireless network and ended up killing my Internet connection altogether. After 2 hours of fruitless efforts (and some tears and snotters), I eventually phoned in the cavalry...who sorted it in almost no ... See more I never used to be a technophobe and working in localization usually am on speaking terms with my computer and the various software tools I use. But occasionally, just occasionally, I could throw the whole thing out of the window, like a couple of weeks ago when I tried to add a new laptop to my wireless network and ended up killing my Internet connection altogether. After 2 hours of fruitless efforts (and some tears and snotters), I eventually phoned in the cavalry...who sorted it in almost no time but didn't tell me how! Of course, they want the repeat business, I guess. Mind you that was only the second time in 14 years as a freelancer I needed outside help so I'm hardly an ideal customer for them...
Hope you're all having a great day without any technical issues ▲ Collapse
| | | | | You just said it all. | Mar 26, 2007 |
Rebekka Gross wrote:
Yes - love them when they're working, hate them when they're not
No more to say.
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John Cutler
Spain
Local time: 22:15
Spanish to English
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| An addictive relationship | Mar 26, 2007 |
They say a love-hate relationship is like an addiction. You can’t live with something and you can’t live without it. I think I’m in good company saying how quickly our lives have been changed by technology and the corresponding emotions it evokes. The love part is that feeling you get when, as has been said, “… it’s working.” It’s that ecstatic feeling of power, accomplishment, wisdom and exhilaration you get when all is going well: the software set-up that went flawlessly, the n... See more They say a love-hate relationship is like an addiction. You can’t live with something and you can’t live without it. I think I’m in good company saying how quickly our lives have been changed by technology and the corresponding emotions it evokes. The love part is that feeling you get when, as has been said, “… it’s working.” It’s that ecstatic feeling of power, accomplishment, wisdom and exhilaration you get when all is going well: the software set-up that went flawlessly, the new hardware that was accepted by your PC as if it was an old friend and suddenly your computer, that software, or piece of hardware is your “amigo para siempre”. You take on the world and do business side by side, you travel to far away exotic places at the click of a button; you’re flying high and invincible together!
Then, when you least expect it, the cold reality sets in; that file you’re trying to retrieve has mysteriously disappeared, the “connection” you once had suddenly becomes disconnected; your PC and the new piece of hardware go their separate ways leaving you in the lurch and - to make matters worse - probably just when you needed them the most.
The flip side of your relationship starts playing. You’re suddenly reduced to a feeling of helplessness and despair. To add insult to injury you seek the help of a relationship counsellor (aka: help desk, service technician) and they seem to imply that it’s your fault that the relationship isn’t what it once was! Perhaps, they subtly imply, “You’re not doing all you could.”
You finally decide that the relationship must be saved. You’ve come this far together, why throw it all away now? You’ll do whatever it takes to go forward together. And so, like any true love-hate relationship, the cycle starts over… ▲ Collapse
| | | | PAS
Local time: 22:15
Polish to English
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| "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" | Mar 26, 2007 |
Sometimes I yearn for the simple times without computers, cell phones and other assorted garbage which caused our lives to rush forward at an unreasonable pace...
But otherwise, my computer is (mostly) my friend. No complaints, really.
Pawel Skalinski
| | | | Aurora Humarán (X)
Argentina
Local time: 17:15
English to Spanish
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| 1.5% speaking | Mar 26, 2007 |
Mine is a hate-hate relationship.
Yes, I know very well all the advantages technology offers me, but if I could take a pill to obtain those advantages, without having to do with
1) My pc
2) My daughter (I depend on her... ggrrr)
3) My IT guru (you should meet him to understand)
4) Electricity (I am scared at it. I never touch plugs)
5) Cookies, softwares, Internet Provider, et alii..... See more Mine is a hate-hate relationship.
Yes, I know very well all the advantages technology offers me, but if I could take a pill to obtain those advantages, without having to do with
1) My pc
2) My daughter (I depend on her... ggrrr)
3) My IT guru (you should meet him to understand)
4) Electricity (I am scared at it. I never touch plugs)
5) Cookies, softwares, Internet Provider, et alii...
I would be happier!
Au, an antigeek!
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| | | | | Mostly love... | Mar 26, 2007 |
In my case it's mostly love. Over thirty years ago I refused to be a secretary - and got away with it - because I could not type. I still can't, but never mind: with that wonderful delete button and Ctrl+z shortcut, I need not scrap the whole document or hassle with Tippex every time.
Of course I sometimes wish myself back to the good old days when people had to make do with us librarians and didn't even dream of Google. When a faulty letter on a typewriter could be fixed with a ste... See more In my case it's mostly love. Over thirty years ago I refused to be a secretary - and got away with it - because I could not type. I still can't, but never mind: with that wonderful delete button and Ctrl+z shortcut, I need not scrap the whole document or hassle with Tippex every time.
Of course I sometimes wish myself back to the good old days when people had to make do with us librarians and didn't even dream of Google. When a faulty letter on a typewriter could be fixed with a steady hand and a soldering iron, and my translator father made his own stencils with a stylus, because he did not have a typewriter that could cope with Marathi. Then he ran off copies on a hand-driven duplicator if he needed more than three or four carbons.
The days when we wrote most of the time with fountain pens. (I'm left handed and have never been fond of scratchy ballpoints...) Or a ballpoint that dried out could be simply be chucked in the bin and replaced. (Now you have to dismantle it for recycling )
Jobs were delivered by post. This was in practice a human, usually on a bicycle, who came from the post office. He arrived at least a day, possibly several days, after the translation had been delivered to the post office in another town. E-mail was far ahead in the future, and deadlines had to take that sort of thing into account...
I have to admit after starting to use a new computer (and putting my regular typos into Autocorrect...) that I appreciate how it can do quite a lot of tricks that neither ballpoints nor fountain pens can. A fortnight without Multiterm has persuaded me that love is far stronger and more constructive than hate. My guru has uninstalled and reinstalled Trados and Multiterm, and wow, we're back in business!
Besides, WHERE would we be without the Internet? There would be no Proz.com! Admittedly, we would not need so much help with our pesky CAT tools, but we would have to find our own terminology and write up all our glossaries and word lists by hand like my father.
Still, I really, intensely and violently hate computers that don't work, run-time errors, power cuts, and when the Internet goes down.
My father used to light a candle and carry on working, or else go to bed and try again next day...
BTW, he is now 86 and almost as hooked on technology as I am, though he still writes Greek and Marathi by hand. He loves his computer and e-mail!
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Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:15
English to Arabic
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| Yes, with Trados | Mar 26, 2007 |
But I'm trying hard to love it because everybody tells me to.
| | | | | Exactly! Nicely put John! | Mar 26, 2007 |
John Cutler wrote:
They say a love-hate relationship is like an addiction. You can’t live with something and you can’t live without it. I think I’m in good company saying how quickly our lives have been changed by technology and the corresponding emotions it evokes. The love part is that feeling you get when, as has been said, “… it’s working.” It’s that ecstatic feeling of power, accomplishment, wisdom and exhilaration you get when all is going well: the software set-up that went flawlessly, the new hardware that was accepted by your PC as if it was an old friend and suddenly your computer, that software, or piece of hardware is your “amigo para siempre”. You take on the world and do business side by side, you travel to far away exotic places at the click of a button; you’re flying high and invincible together!
Then, when you least expect it, the cold reality sets in; that file you’re trying to retrieve has mysteriously disappeared, the “connection” you once had suddenly becomes disconnected; your PC and the new piece of hardware go their separate ways leaving you in the lurch and - to make matters worse - probably just when you needed them the most.
The flip side of your relationship starts playing. You’re suddenly reduced to a feeling of helplessness and despair. To add insult to injury you seek the help of a relationship counsellor (aka: help desk, service technician) and they seem to imply that it’s your fault that the relationship isn’t what it once was! Perhaps, they subtly imply, “You’re not doing all you could.”
You finally decide that the relationship must be saved. You’ve come this far together, why throw it all away now? You’ll do whatever it takes to go forward together. And so, like any true love-hate relationship, the cycle starts over…
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:15
English to Arabic
+ ...
| You've convinced me, Christine! | Mar 26, 2007 |
Christine Andersen wrote: In my case it's mostly love.
Very good reminders of life as a translator in pre-technological times!
| | | | Heidi C
Local time: 16:15
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Hey, biased pool!!!! | Mar 26, 2007 |
Just thinking that a poll on an Internet based forum definitely will be biased, as people who really HATE technology are not even close to seeing it, let alone answering!!!
On another note, just looking at the comments shows that we all share more or less the same feelings, no matter what we answered...
I still remember my first translations, the many handwritten drafts, skipping a line on the notebook, making all the corrections, and finally going to type it and have t... See more Just thinking that a poll on an Internet based forum definitely will be biased, as people who really HATE technology are not even close to seeing it, let alone answering!!!
On another note, just looking at the comments shows that we all share more or less the same feelings, no matter what we answered...
I still remember my first translations, the many handwritten drafts, skipping a line on the notebook, making all the corrections, and finally going to type it and have to start a page all over again after several typos (or thinking of a better option at the end...)
Also remember being one of the 3 "weirdos" in my class who were using a computer for translating.
Would NEVER go back to those days.
Of course, I also hate trying to figure out the programming of my VCR (that's why God invented children)... Good thing we now have Tivo and those other programs on Cable ▲ Collapse
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| My only complaint: how manufacturers work for a majority | Mar 27, 2007 |
My only complaint about technology is the fact that manufacturers tend to create products for a majority. If a majority of people are concerned about security of computers connected to Internet, the manufacturer fills up operating systems with security features that are not that useful and are cumbersome to disable and take out for a professional users (I'm talking about MS's Vista for instance).
If most people only need a 2-slice toster, it gets very tricky to find a 4-slice toaste... See more My only complaint about technology is the fact that manufacturers tend to create products for a majority. If a majority of people are concerned about security of computers connected to Internet, the manufacturer fills up operating systems with security features that are not that useful and are cumbersome to disable and take out for a professional users (I'm talking about MS's Vista for instance).
If most people only need a 2-slice toster, it gets very tricky to find a 4-slice toaster, no matter if most users of 2-slice toasters have to use the device twice most days and they would be better off with a 4-slice toaster anyway.
If a majority of people seem to prefer buttons as opposed to knobs in car stereos, we have buttons, even if setting the volume or looking for stations requires a lot more time and is more dangerous with buttons than with knobs...
And so on! Manufacturers produce what people seem to want, with lots of bells and whistles, even if people don't think about the functionality they lose compared with less flashy, more practical approaches. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 22:15
Spanish to English
+ ...
Heidi C wrote:
Just thinking that a poll on an Internet based forum definitely will be biased, as people who really HATE technology are not even close to seeing it, let alone answering!!!
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