June 10, 2007
-
Software Updates
I was away from my computer for a few days. This morning, when I started my computer, Norton Internet Security warned me that my computer was at RISK because my software is not upto date. It urged me to update my software immediately. So I had to postpone checking my e-mail, and allowed Norton to update my software. It took a few minutes to update the software. Then Norton told me I MUST restart the computer for the updates to take effect. I had no option but to obey.
After the computer had restarted, I was about to launch my AOL software, when a notice appeared on the bottom right corner of the monitor. It said, Windows have automatically downloaded important SECURITY updates for me and asked me if I wanted to install them now. I thought, what the heck … let me do it before I start any real work with the computer. So I clicked on the Yes button. Windows started to install the latest updates and was kind enough to show me graphically with a progress bar how much work is done. In a couple of minutes Windows finished its work. The progress bar reached 100% and the graphic display box disappeared. I heaved a sigh of relief, and was going to double-click on the AOL icon on my desktop, when a notice appeared on my screen saying I MUST restart my computer for the latest updates to take effect. Do I want to restart the computer now? So very reluctantly I clicked on the Yes button again.
After the computer had restarted for the second time, I hastily doule-clicked on the AOL icon to lauch AOL. I needed to check my e-mail. I knew there were going to be at least a hundred new messages, out of which at least a couple of dozens will be “genuine”, meaning not junk mail or spam. As soon as I signed on to AOL, again a notice appeared on my screen saying I must update my AOL “Connectivity” software to avoid future problems of connecting to AOL. I was getting real irritated at this point. Again, very reluctantly, I allowed AOL to update the “Connectivity” software. And yes, you guessed right, I had to restart my computer for the third time.
After the computer had restarted, I signed on to AOL again and started going through my e-mail. Soon I came across a message from Google which wanted me to visit a particular page of their site to learn more about something regarding which I had written to them. So I clicked on the link. Within seconds a message from Macromedia appeared on the screen. It said I will not be able to see this page properly until I UPDATE my Flash Player!!! Luckily, on the bottom part of the message it said that the update would be completed in less than one minute on a Broadband connection (which I have, thank God) and IT WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY TO RESTART MY COMPUTER. Thank you Macromedia. You not only saved my day, you saved me from insanity.
Computers are supposed to make our lives easier. They are supposed to save us time. But with all these updates and upgrades aren’t they actually making our lives more complicated and wasting our time? What will happen when iPhone hits the market in about two weeks?
