Communication

Although I'm not one to jump off a cliff just because everyone else is doing it, I do recognize when something moves from a fad to being useful. Like the telephone and television, I believe the internet has moved into the realm of utilitarian for many.

It is a form of communication, from providing information (or misinformation) on a particular subject to staying in touch with friends, family, and even strangers. In our capitalistic society, advertiser's encroachment upon pages shows that even they recognize it's significance.

Yet it is still misunderstood and misused by many.

For some reason, the insulation from direct interaction seems to make the rude and mindless even more so. They even hide their inability to spell behind the guise of the internet "coolness" for saving time through abbreviations. They are too stupid to use the spell checker most browsers have or spell so poorly even it can't figure out what they are trying to say. Of course, part of the "coolness" is never admitting you don't know what their abbreviations (or misspellings) mean.

There is also the mindless nature of the masses. Re-posting something because someone told you to. Never going against the grain for fear of no longer being "Liked" or "Friended". Being the same old sheep in a virtual world as they are in real life.

Many advertisers don't get it either. If they do provide feedback, it is usually lost in translation (in whatever country it is actually processed) and never gets a proper review. There are those that maintain so many different sites or pages for a group that you don't know which one to use (even the creators don't keep them up-to-date!). You are inundated with the same message from multiple pages, mindless repetition, or old information to the point that you finally block it out or stop following it altogether.

The worst part to me is from friends and family. It seems a nice way to stay in touch but instead of communicating important information, I get to hear when people are going to bed. If it's for an unusual reason, that's fine but if that's all you have to say to folks, it sounds a bit needy. Or if all you can do is complain about your job or your partner or the world, I often just block those folks (something not as easily done in person!).

I posted this mainly because I found many events going by without any form of notification even after I suggested it to the organizations (yes, more than one) as well as many with old information automatically generated. It seems so many people want the title an organization gives them but really don't do the first thing to attempt to promote them properly.

I'd love to walk up to some executive at HP and shake some sense into them but they are well insulated from the public. From my experiences with those I can reach at the top, many just don't care. There are still some that do and for those few, I will keep the lines open and continue to share my views.

Oh, and HP, when I compliment you on having many laptops with keyboards and mouse pads centered on the laptop, one of the worst replies you could give was the one you gave me: "Regrettably, we do not have a PC with mouse pad or touchpad at the center.". So very very sad...