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Tech for tech's sake?
Congratulations on the new look. PCW has always been my computer magazine of choice for well written and informative articles. Now it's more readable than ever.
Like you, and no doubt most of your readers, I too have a passion for technology. My first computer was a floppy disc driven Amstrad PCW circa 1987. My latest is a Dell Dimension 5000 P4 with a 17" LCD screen. Using the excellent Serif Photo Plus 10,1 have been able to colour some of the old black and white photos taken of my children fifty years ago.
Having updated my hi-fi, I have burned all my old vinyl records and cassettes on to CDs for ease of use. My trusty old Nikon SLR is gathering dust while I snap everything in sight with a digital camera. These days my finances are kept in order with MS Money and I keep track of the running costs of my car with a program which I wrote using Delphi.
However, I do sometimes wonder whether much technology which we see today is being used simply for the sake of it. When I bought my new computer nine months ago, I advertised my four year old Dell in the village post office for £200 including the new free Dell printer which I had no need for and offered to set it all up.
A middle aged lady came along and said she wanted it to help her research her family history. It was far more powerful than she would ever need but she was delighted with it. And much as I love my new all singing and dancing Dell, I often feel that it is rather like buying a Ferrari and putting a roof rack on it for the weekly shopping trip to Tescos.
Even so, in no way does this blunt my sense of excitement and wonder at the sheer inventiveness and breakneck speed at which digital technology is pushing back the boundaries. It took the steam locomotive the best part of sixty years to reach the magic 100 miles per hour. One day in the future, the quantum computer will be as common as today's PC - infinitely more powerful but probably much smaller and very much faster. I don't expect to be around to see it, but if I were, I know I'd still want to have one.
My best wishes to you all
John Revell
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