Tech has for a long time been one of the most important parts of my life. It is here that I will share with you the tools I use and why I love them. Also tools I may have used and why I moved on from them. As someone with a chronic illness I am often on the lookout for new devices that can make life easier.

The Digital revolution

Being a child of the digital revolution, like pretty much all of us, as it has lasted from 1947 to the current day. I was really blown away when I saw the stat:

It is hard to imagine the percentage is just under two thirds of the global population. Even allowing for infants and the elderly, knowing that they are even using the internet in parts of the third world I expected a higher percentage. The amount of times I said to my parents (born in the 1930’s) that not being computer literate now is on a par with not being literate full stop in their younger days. I struggle to get my head around people who do have the resources to access the internet choosing not to. All of life and knowledge is out there to be discovered.

My first computer

I still remember back to when I got my first computer, a Commodore 64. The games were on cassettes, I remember that Icicle Works and Fire Ant were my favourites. It amused me seeing a clip of the game play on YouTube. That once excitement I used to feel at what is now a pixilated antique.

Becoming Mobile

It the early days of mobile devices I actually got a pager, my logic at the time was unfathomable to me now, I don’t think anyone ever paged me. I guess I was one of those people who experienced shiny object syndrome before it was even a thing. I am still like that when it comes to new apps. At least now I have a purpose for experimenting with them. I can tell you all about it in the Apps section.

Apple Tech

Although I spent half of my adult life using a Window’s computer and an Android phone, around 2016 I transitioned to Apple devices and wasn’t disappointed. There is just something so buttery smooth about the Apple Eco system. It’s true that I use many third party applications but they all work seamlessly on the platform. It is only when I had a Window’s PC that I experienced a computer crashing or the blue screen of death.

Technology is now ruling our homes

But of course Tech isn’t just computers and mobiles. In recent years, technology has seeped into our daily lives, and it is now taking over our homes. Perhaps, ironically for one who loves tech, this is why I also love crafting. It strips away the tech are returns you to using your hands to see what you can create – except of course if I am doing graphic design.

With the rise of smart home devices, we can control our homes remotely, monitor energy usage, and even automate daily tasks The main barrier really is budget, I’m not going to lie I am craving a robot vacuum cleaner…

The integration of technology into our homes made such a difference when we were going through the pandemic. Who is going to forget the chap on the news having his two young children bursting into the room. I saw the Youtube of that court case where someone’s filter was set to be a cat. There is nothing more amusing that people using technology that is just beyond their level of knowledge, unless of course you are that person, and we have all been there too!

Along Came Artificial intelligence

For such a lover of technology I was actually fairly late to the whole using AI thing. As a blogger I consider it my companion. If I am not sure what I want to say about something I will ask my digital assistant – I haven’t named her yet. She will give me a paragraph and I will be inspired, then maybe keep one sentence and rewrite the rest, I blog because I enjoy it primarily, if it can raise some much needed finance that would be a tasty icing on the cake. I have seen the videos of people churning out multiple blog posts an hour and auto posting them onto websites. That would never give me pleasure.

I have to say though my AI buddy can be a great publicist. I fed her a blog post I wrote completely on my own and asked for some tweets to promote it. They were better than anything I think I would have come up with. As a free assistant she is handy to have around.

AI Imaging

I have also began dabbling with AI imaging and I have shared some of them on this blog. On the one hand you can create some beautiful graphics, but with imagery especially we have to be cautious. It scares me how long it will take before the quality gets to the point that people can manufacture photographic evidence. There are always the maleficent among us. However, it is a while to go before then.

Amusing AI

Leading up to the Coronation I wanted to produce an image for the post What if the King had Fibromyalgia, over on Living Creatively with Fibro. In my imagination I was thinking of the image of the King, as the Prince of Wales in his red uniform, this one that seems to have featured all over the internet:

The plan was to combine this with the famous stunning image of the late Queen Elizabeth by Sir Cecil Beaton:

Well I suppose I can’t deny I was given King Charles, a red uniform and a throne of sorts, but it was hardly suitable for anything other that a bit of a chuckle:

AI imagery is a lot of fun and it has created some lovely images, but I don’t suppose we are quite ready as a society to do away with photographers and artists. In the same way that most Kindle owners still have books that have to be the traditional paper kind. Technology and AI at it’s best.

The future of tech

So what will come along next, will we really have the flying cars we were led to believe in my childhood. Will we be able to write short stories, feed them into a processor and get out a short film of it? I guess none of us really know. But I sure as heck as keeping an eye out for what is coming around the corner and will sharing all my tech tips along the way.

If you are interested in my latest tech stack you can see it here in my Digital Garden

Until next time,
Susan