Life Without Computers
Written March 2003
Computers
play a major role in life today. Can you imagine waking up and finding an
absence of computers? Think about it for a moment. Without computers, those
computer games that children so love would be gone. Research would be harder
to do and more limited. And all those people from across the globe that you’ve
met over the computer? You wouldn’t know them.
In the past, children played with toys such as dolls
and action figures. In the past years, however, computer games have become
popular. From the days of Atari’s Qix and Pacman to today’s The SIMS and
Diablo 2, computer games entertain children for hours at a time. Children
love to control virtual people’s lives, kill bad guys, and beat levels to
get their names on high score tables. Imagine that computers were gone. Poof!
No more computer games for children. No more virtual fun.
In the past, all research was done by use of books.
Researchers were limited to what information was in the books they could
get a hold of, whether by use of library, bookstore, or private collection.
People have described that researching as a pain. With computers, there are
millions of pieces of information right at the click of a mouse. Websites
and computer encyclopedias obtain information on every topic imaginable,
and it’s all available to anyone who needs it. Imagine that computers were
gone. Poof! We’re back to book research. We’re back to having our available
information limited.
In the past, the people you knew were the people you
lived near. The only way you could contact someone far away was by letter
or phone. Now, with computers and their Internet, we meet people from all
over the globe. Friends are often international, and talking to them is quick
and easy—an e-mail or an instant message can be sent in the blink of an eye.
Friends from far away are easier to keep in contact with. Imagine that computers
were gone. Poof! Those international friends are gone. Contact to people far
away is back to letter or phone. Your acquaintances are limited to those around
you.
Computers do so much for us! Their games entertain us.
Their banks of information help us with quick, easy, and broad research. Their
Internet allows us to make far away friends and keep in contact with them.
Without computers, we would have none of this.