For a 71-year-old man, I like to think I’m pretty good with today’s world of tech.
And not that long ago, I took a little time to make sure I knew how to handle “talk to text.”
A year later, I love it!
I like to say that I’m a pretty good typist since I found that skill, quite unexpectedly, when I was attending Slidell High School before graduating in 1972.
I remember heading into my junior year and needing to come up with a final elective. Top on my list was always the tough ones—P.E. (Yes, that’s a joke.)
So, after I filled in my P.E. blank, I needed one more elective and someone suggested I try typing class. I remember them saying, “it’s not too hard.” Bingo! That’s what I wanted to hear.
The first day of class the teacher told everyone to take out a piece of paper and set up for a time writing test. She said we could do it any way we wanted—one finger, hunt-and-peck, or whatever. When I finished it worked out to 24 words per minute and I chuckled to myself about how “I showed her.”
Six weeks later I was typing 80 words per minute, then got up to 120 before the year was over, and early during the first semester was selected by the teacher to forget about any more busy work or tests. When I walked into the class each day I sat in a desk by her desk, got to use the only electric typewriter in the room, and spent my hour typing thesis papers for college students. I have a good feeling she had started a side business doing that, and then found out that one student per hour at school could help her quite a bit.
I got an A+ for two years in a row, and I remember her finding me in the hall at the end of my junior year and strongly urging me to take Typing II.
But as good as I am typing, I mean, I should be good after doing it for 50 years, I found a roadblock. When text messages were suddenly a part of our world, I was about as bad as someone could be. Just never got the hang of two fingers on a small phone screen, so I used one finger for a message and it took forever.
Then I found magic—“Talk to Text.”
I’m sure most of you are familiar with it. Press one button on your text message and start talking. It was fabulous!
I have learned to speak slowly and carefully for the best results, but now I can zip through a longer text without taking 10 minutes to make my corrections.
So, if you haven’t given talk to text a try, you really should.
I did pretty well learning computers when they came out, and then the Internet, and then to understand what a “folder” was on a desktop. Since then, I’ve learned tons of other things: E-mails, ZOOM calls, PDF and JPG files, cut and paste text, etc. I even know how to use my handsfree phone texting and calling in my car!
I remember when the first computers came to the former Slidell Sentry-News, there was a lot of concern by many, including some of the older reporters. But I realized from the beginning that I better learn this new technology, or I would soon be out of a job. So, as difficult as some things have been, I have stayed up with what I call “the basics,” and here I am, still putting out a newspaper every week.
I think we all know the changes will not be coming to an end anytime soon, so if you are getting older and don’t like learning new things, I suggest you change your mind.
You wouldn’t be reading this newspaper today if I hadn’t been willing to take it on.
—-
My wife and I are like so many of you, enjoying other tech changes in the way of watching TV. Long gone are the days of three local networks. Now, you have access to literally thousands and thousands of programs through Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu and more.
We use many of those apps and I will say I like it. But it’s crazy how often we sit down to watch TV in the evening and struggle to find something.
Last year we suddenly decided to try Christmas movies in December and that worked well for a while. This Christmas we were tired of them.
But last night my wife said, “let’s try romantic comedies,” and it turned into a super fun night with a few laughs. No dark, heavy stuff for us if you please.
So, I was hoping a few of my readers might help us out by e-mailing the answer to this question:
What was the best romantic comedy you ever watched?
Thanks, and I’ll let you know what I think is the best.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Comments are closed.