Hello, my name is Ryan. I’ve been using computers for over ten years now. One of the great things about having a family member in the tech field is that not only do I have someone to fix my computer for free when things go haywire, but I can also pick up the know-how to fix things on my own. Of course, the more complex things need specialized training, but when it comes to basic problems such as virus issues, display issues or general stability problems, I can fix it by trial and error.
Getting to where I am now was no easy task. As an avid gamer and having access to an ISDN, I was always messing up my computer. (For those that don’t know, ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network for those who don’t know. If you’re still lost, think of it as a primitive form of high-speed, if you could call 12 kbps high-speed.) I was always downloading things for my games, like patches, mods and trainers. Needless to say, some of these things came packed with virus’ which proceeded to destroy my system. Luckily, I had nothing too important, so the occasional formatting of my hard drive wasn’t too devastating. The other issue I had was upgrading my computer. Whether it was a hard drive, a new graphics card, or even a new motherboard and processor, nothing ever seemed to go as planned. My father and I would install the new hardware in five to ten minutes and then spend the next four to six hours trying to figure out why nothing was working. Even with something as simple as upgrading my monitor from a 15 inch to a 21 inch widescreen was a two hour hassle as I could never get Windows XP to boot with the right screen resolution.
But now, I am much more informed and cautious when it comes to computers. I always scan a file before opening it and avoid dangerous sites. I still get the occasional virus, but nothing major enough to warrant and entire system wipe. (A good thing considering the size of my hard drives, instead of the six gigabyte one I had in my old computer, I now have multiple drives over 200 gigabytes.) As for hardware, I still have some issues when I install a new graphics card, but I am able to get things running smoothly again in several minutes instead of the hours it took before. Even still, I do have the occasional problem where I need to call my residential computer technician to get things running again. Fortunately, that’s still free.
September 29, 2009 at 8:46 pm |
I enjoyed the narration. It was interesting how much information you used in it. I seems like you know a lot about computers and the hardware/software that goes with it. My only criticism would be that some people may get lost in some of that technical info. Overall good job.
September 29, 2009 at 8:46 pm |
I like your narrative, and you did a good job introducing yourself and what you know and how you learned it. A lot of the stuff you talk about is very technical, so maybe you could think about how to appeal to the listener/reader’s emotion, like maybe elaborate on how you and your father worked together on this stuff. Nice job!
September 30, 2009 at 11:23 pm |
I agree with Rebecca’s previous post. There is a lot of technical information, which you should keep; but the narrative seems to lack a punch that more personal or vivid descriptions can provide. Isolating an occasion in which you worked with your dad as kid would add an emotional resonance to your story. What was the project? How did it feel to be working with your father on it. You also spend a lot of time discussing your battle with computer viruses in this narrative. Why not stage it dramatically as a battle in your audio essay? You can take liberties to intensify the drama of your narrative. I can imagine integrating many video game sound loops and effects. Another thing to consider is your engagement with your audience. You indicate how much of the tech info you provide may baffle novices. Perhaps you could use this to fashion an ethos, a persona. This persona could be interested in educating the mass public in computer hardware. You make some of these moves already when you include points of clarification. The adoption of such a persona could lead to a more robust conclusion about your computer literacy, which, right now, reads like a list of technical specs.
October 1, 2009 at 5:47 pm |
I feel that it was an interesting narrative. I feel that you used too much technical information that a lot of people might not understand. Overall the narrative is good but you might want to add more personal descriptions of your experiences with computers. Some people may get confused with all the technical information you used in the narrative. Overall you did a good job.