Technology Management is more of a business and management course that simply integrates theories of communications and I.T. But the fact that there’s I.T. in it continues to perplex most of my friends.
Honestly, sometimes even I don’t know why I’m taking it. I have two computer science subjects right now, and both are driving me insane.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been afraid of technology. Actually, I’ve always been afraid of breaking high-tech gadgets, so I never developed the courage to explore them. I still remember when I’d tiptoe towards my dad’s computer and ask him if I could use it. He eventually taught me how but warned me not to break the computer. He would remind me of this constantly, so I was always nervous when I switched it on. Once, after finishing a short story that I had begun days before, I proudly proceeded to save my work and clicked "Save As," just as my Dad had taught me. A pop-up box appeared, saying that the filename "Monique" already existed and that it would be replaced if I clicked "OK." I blinked twice and started to panic. I had no idea what that little box meant. I ran to my grandmother crying, asking her what to do, desperate to find a solution to make the little box go away. Big surprise – she didn’t know what to do, either. I spent the rest of the afternoon crying, petrified at what my father’s reaction would be when he got home. I was certain I had replaced some file and that I had destroyed the computer.
When my father came home, I hid behind my grandmother, still in tears, as I confessed what I had done to his computer. To my great relief, he just laughed and clicked "OK."
Today I can totally laugh at my little clueless moment back then, but I have to admit that I’m still panicky when it comes to computers. When I see a pop-up box that I’m not familiar with, when I use an unfamiliar program, when people start to talk about computers and use several words that I’m totally unfamiliar with, I’m immediately anxious. Even in high school, I was hopeless in our computer classes. Computer was actually one of the lowest, bottom-scraping, barely-passing grades I got, second only to math. (And I’m really awful in math.) I spent most of my time making fun of the computer teacher and begging my computer-literate classmates to help me. I would be so happy whenever our computer period ended, and when I finally finished my last computer subject in high school, I was ecstatic that the torture had ended.
A short four years later, my love-hate relationship with the computer continues, since I’m taking two computer science subjects this semester, and my seatmates can attest to the fact that I’m completely helpless. For one subject, I’m learning how to use InDesign, a program used for electronic publishing. We recently had to make our own travel newsletter, and after making little articles and collecting pictures, I sat down to create the actual newsletter.
An hour later I was still staring at the blank screen. I realized that I had no idea what to do. Yes, I had been listening to my teacher but unfortunately, I was too focused on trying to follow his instructions so that the steps to making the newsletter never sank in.
I asked my friend Raine for help. "I can’t seem to start," I complained. "Is there anything I need to know beforehand?"
"Did you set your default printer to AGFA already?" she asked.
"Um, what? No… Default printer? My printer’s HP."
"No, it’s not really a printer… All right, I’ll tell you later. All your pictures are saved in TIFF format, right?"
"What’s TIFF?"
"Just go to Adobe Photoshop, then go to View, then Mode…"
"I don’t have Photoshop. What’s TIFF?"
My friend told me that she would pray for me.
Two days and a million questions later, I proudly waved the Mini-Disk containing my newsletter in the air. "I’m finished!" I said.
"That’s great!" she replied. "How big is your file?"
"I don’t know," I said. "Around something-something KB. Around 300, I think."
"Really? Wow, how did you make it fit into 300KB? Did you save your files onto the disk?"
"Uh… no."
"So you embedded your files in the file?"
After she saw my blank look, she scrambled to get my laptop open so she could embed my files for me as the bell rang, signaling only 10 minutes before I had to submit my project. Miraculously, I made it by the deadline, with my friends’ (and my very panicked) last-minute efforts.
Four years later, I’m still surviving computer class because of my more knowledgeable friends. However, my life and the computer are much more interconnected now. My interaction with the computer is no longer relegated to computer class. Ever since college started, I’ve been relying on the computer more and more, and not just for typing short stories (or papers). I organize numbers with spreadsheets. I make presentations. I play music. I have meetings online. I’ve discovered many more applications, programs to edit pictures and even make my own videos, applications that I have yet to learn and master.
I remember why I took Communications Technology Management, despite the "technology" being right smack in the middle of it. I knew that, eventually, the corporate world would be much more reliant on technology. We will need to use all these programs, applications, software and more in our different careers. I would need to learn how to make fantastic, awe-inspiring presentations, how to create layouts for magazines or portfolios, what to do when technical difficulties arise, how to edit my own videos and more.
Even our everyday lives are becoming more and more reliant on technology. Information has become digital. Communication has become virtual. And I believe technology will continue to shape and change our lives. No matter how much it scares and confuses me, I simply have to accept it and incorporate it into my life. Staying scared or clueless will simply keep me in the past as the rest of the world changes. I have to face reality: the world changes and things get broken. These things happen, and I must prepare myself for both occasions. I prefer that it doesn’t involve any computer crashes or viruses or anything breaking, but if that’s part of the assimilation process, then bring it on.