Now, software is another matter altogether. I am partial to the gloss and sparkle of a new piece of technology, but using it is a different matter. Hardware is so concrete and get-at-able. Screwdrivers and torches, buckets and brooms, wrenches and glue. You can pick them up, smell/hold/ponder/ask questions, and have a reasonable idea of what you can do with them; buy them; take them home - and USE them, or not.
As soon as you lift the hardware-ish lid of a new laptop (?) then you're in software no-go land. There's definitely no-one inside who can tell you what you should be doing or how to begin doing it. Yes - there is that little help up in the right hand corner and then a long bulleted list, which only very occasionally solves my issues - usually very simple.
Desperation has led me to either google my question or find an enthusiastic, fast-talking American on youtube (to provide an answer, in case you're wondering). It is reassuring to know that other people have the same issues. If or when that fails, I go back to one of my four reference works:
(1) the 72 page downloaded guide (on kindle, phone and Mac - just in case)
(2) Mac Basics - Easy to follow - Step-by-step tasks - in full colour (yes - if a vital instruction isn't left out...grrrr) (on p.134 select the pics first or it doesn't work!)
(3) Teach Yourself Visually Macbook Air - The fast and Easy Way to Learn (ha!)
(4) MacBook Air Portable Genius - I don't need a genius.
I've had more picture chasing around and uploading trouble today and if you only get to see the hardware museum from the recent outing to Chagford, then I'll be happy for today.
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The hardware museum in one of the Chagford hardware stores |
On a final note, I didn't get the super huge vehicle stuck in the little roads of Chagford, otherwise the story would have headlined today. The organisers of Chagword, Dartmoor's Literary Festival, knew I was coming and I ended up having a large chunk of the primary school playground for parking.
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