Inspired by both Gizmodo—What Our Dads Taught Us About Tech—and Kevin Purdy’s post—What My Dad Taught Me About Tech—here’s what my dad taught me:
Always read the manual.
Here’s the story.
Way back in 1987 I was heading off to college and getting my first computer of my own (a Mac SE with a 20 meg HD). I had been using our Apple IIe for almost four years by then. I wrote all but one high school term paper on that machine (and printed out on an Imagewriter I thank you). The thing was if I ran into a problem, even if my Dad had told me a hundred times before, I asked my Dad. Sure he was patient and he answered me and explained (again) why whatever it was worked like that, but I still kept asking.
So back in 1987, ready to become a freshman in college (I was going to be a history major back then), my Dad told me the words that would set the course of the rest of my life. The words that, without hyperbole, are the reason I am doing what I’m doing now. He said:
Tris, I’m not going to be there to answer your questions for you. You’re going to have to read the manual and learn for yourself.
That was it. Simple and to the point. Since then I’ve read a lot of manuals, FAQs and assorted docs. I’d venture too that both Create Your Own Blog and Using WordPress are manuals in their own rights..
A simple statement, that my Dad only intended to reduce phone calls for tech support, that in the end, shaped my entire life.
