The Motley Fool: The Fribble, My New Computer, by Mohammed Aslam

Monday, March 30, 1998

My New Computer
By Mohammed Aslam ([email protected])

Thanks to new technology, I have been thrown out of my cozy office at home, along with my old computer, printer and fax machine. And as my teenaged son and daughter are surfing the Net, exploring the seemingly limitless realm of this universal medium with speakers blaring full-blast, I’m sitting in my bedroom, crossed-legged like a yogi, writing this Fribble, training my neck to look up at the desktop placed on a carton, with the keyboard on a shoe-box and the mouse on the floor.

As if to add salt to injury, this is happening when I have shelled out more than two grand to buy the latest in computer technology -- with a super-fast processor, modem and all that -- complete with hi-fi stereo speakers and a laser printer. Little did I know that as soon as the package would be delivered, my son and daughter would take control of the entire operation. Quite adept in computer science at school, they installed each piece of our prized new acquisition with lightning speed. As each new appliance took its place on the large computer table, it elbowed its old counterpart out. Since the CD-Rom drive, the speakers and the fancy microphone came as additional equipment, they needed more room, displacing the good old fax machine, too.

Frankly, my home-office is not very big. Okay, it’s not even big. When we bought this condo last year, I tricked my wife and sort of seized one of the walk-in closets, installing myself in there with my faithful desktop, printer and fax machine. That became, proverbially, my own corner in the house. That didn’t mean, however, that I didn’t let my children do their homework and projects on the desktop. In fact, a very healthy atmosphere of cooperation and team spirit existed among the three of us.

Until, of course, this new technology came into the picture -- and into the house. The closet would not accommodate both old and new sets of computers, and the kids would simply not come off the Windows, the CDs and the Net. In fact, there was a touch of urgency in my purchase of the new computer. I was doing a software application course at a local community college to upgrade my skills (and to avoid frequently asking the children for help!) and was required to do assignments at home. So I needed the latest version of everything.

But, soon enough, I found that I could only squeeze myself in for a couple of hours on weekends. However, I must say to their credit, my children most graciously let me use the new computer for one whole day when I was preparing for my final exam recently. My eviction was greeted with a smug smile by my wife, who had all along been moaning about the loss of the closet. She is also happy because, perhaps for the first time in life, she now has the TV all to herself almost all the time.

I must hasten to add that I’m not blaming my son and daughter for this state of affairs. The family’s latest foray into high-technology has, indeed, opened up a whole new world within that tiny walk-in closet. Our curiosity is intense and boundless, and the depths of information and knowledge on offer are absolutely unfathomable. As a matter of fact, I’ve noticed a new sense of confidence and care in my children ever since the new equipment arrived. Their projects are better written and illustrated with the help of what is available on websites. And, instead of wasting paper on printing recklessly, they now even advise me to be prudent in using our brand new printer.

All that is very fine. But the fact remains that my old machines and I have been uprooted and made office-less. There they are, my wife watching her favorite talk show and my son and daughter racing on the information super highway, marveling at its ever-unfolding wonders and excitedly planning to buy some new CDs out of their allowance. And here I am, sitting on the floor and hoping that if I get paid for my next article, I will be able to buy myself a nice computer table.