When I met my wife almost 5 years ago she had a computer and an email address and a website. From all outward appearances a techno-chic chick.
It didn’t take me too long to realize she could use a little help though in regard to all this technology. She checked her email about once a week, had trouble loading her shows into her website and by and large seemed to treat the computer as more of a household appliance rather than the powerful tool that it is.
I’ve grown up in a technology house and have been online since the early nineties. Getting Jamie into really using her computer was a fun challenge!
First step was getting her onto her email and learning how to load and send pictures regularly. Pictures are such a great way to stay connected, and with digital cameras these days it so easy to share them!
She eventually moved over to a Mac and started to really flourish. She took on the hat of family photo journalist, and then discovered how easy it was for her to change her own website. With only a little bit of hand holding on my part, she re-did her whole site and made a site for her family.
She learned to record vocals and demos with GarageBand and then we started collaborating on music long distance. In fact we recorded the vocals for a TV theme I wrote this way. All while she was in LA and I was in Chicago.
Jamie’s enthusiasm is infectious, and her brother Jarod jarodjams.com went from barely ever checking his email to producing a full CD all on his own and doing claymation videos! Now Jamie’s sister Jessica got in on the fun and just bought her machine a few days ago. Last night when I was planning to iChat Jamie on some things related to the site, I noticed both her brother and sister were online (Jessica in Texas and Jarod in Nashville) – so took the opportunity to do a 4-way video chat. It was hilarious and so much fun having us all together so spontaneously!
When you do it right, technology can be a lot of fun, bring families together and help you work.