Dependency on computers mistake
Some years ago I was forced to change the way I did things in my job. I had to convert to the computer. Did it save time? No. Did it enhance somebody else’s job? Must have. Was it expensive? Very. Did the number crunchers make it seem like it was worthy? Absolutely.
Here I am on about my sixth or seventh system. (It’s giving me trouble and is about to crash. After all, it’s three years old). I have no choice now. I have lost the ability to write or spell without it.
For at least two years in a row, the county assessor has produced property evaluations that were incorrect as a result of computer glitches. We have talked about it and he assures me he corrects those thousands of errors by hand. I’ve been there and watched him do it. Hardworking but determined, the latest information technology is the only way to go.
I also read in the Parker paper, the La Paz assessor has some glitch problems and is working on it. Now to me, if the tax assessor is spending more time fixing computer problems than doing property evaluations, there is something amiss; so I started paying attention to other stories about problems that are caused by the wonderful information technology computer world. Here are some of the things I am finding.
A large college in the east had their system suspend 75 percent of the student body. That was a computer glitch that cost thousands of dollars to correct.
In these days of Internet and online buying, almost all ID theft is through those areas and is in the millions.
One of my utility providers overbilled my bank account last year by $400. We found it and yes, computer glitch. Yes, manually we fixed it (after a few miles and several people re-reading and computing). Luckily I had the money or the overdraft would have cost me a trip to the bank and probably days of complaining to some jerk with a computer. I should not be charged the bank fees.
More recently, and one of the reasons I am writing this, I had the honor of being in our local hospital. Before and after surgery, I observed the newly installed data system in action. I had excellent care in spite of those folks’ extra workload due to the computer system. Dr. Moon performed heart surgery and I feel he and his folks probably saved my life.
Day after day I watched trained medical folks sit in front of, drag around and depend on each other to find where the information drifted off to. At least three times the thing shut down and they had to reboot just in my room. They drag those electronic leaches from room to room and then sit at the desk for hours making sure all the information got there.
I realized that the care staff spends more time looking at the computer screen than they do the patients. That really worries me. I think it’s only a matter of time before the computer just takes out whomever they want.
If the power grid goes down, we cannot fight a war. A friend of mine told me when we had the giant power outage last year, it was the terrorists trying out the technology to shut down our ability to function.
If you bank by mail and online, stop. If you buy on the Internet, don’t use your checking account number, Social Security number or credit card. If you depend on computer technology to exist, either become a good hacker or learn a new way to make a living. You’re going to need it. Oh yes, the company that wants your business and assures you “their” system is safe is telling you a bold-faced lie.
ELGIN EVERLY
Yuma
