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The impact of computers and technology on our perception of reality was brought home to me recently by one of my children. I offered to install an old PC in her bedroom, so that she could use it for homework. Great idea, we all thought.

So I spent time reorganising her room to install a desk, arranging the electrics so there were enough power sockets, and then setting up the PC itself. I was surprised when, a few days later, I realised that she was not using the computer I had put in, but continued to want access to our main PC downstairs.

I asked my wife what the problem was, to be told there was an issue with the computer. I had a quick look at it but everything seemed okay - it started up without any problem and ran the necessary applications. Being an older machine it wasn't as quick as our other one, but it was fine for creating Word documents and the like.

That evening I asked my daughter whether the computer in her room was okay. No - she replied - it was broken; the internet wasn't working. Now, I had explained to her before I installed it that there would be no internet connection. It was a standalone PC she could use for homework. As we talked about it again, I realised that there was a fundamental difference between what each of thought a computer was.

She believed that a computer always gave access to the internet. I have grown up watching home computers evolve from simple games machines, and more recently, seeing them connected to the internet. Her perception was completely different - for her a computer IS all about the internet. Yes, you can run programs locally as well, but in her mind a computer that does not have internet access is deficient in some way.

This is a simple illustration, but it's a true story and it makes the point that everyone has the capacity to see reality in a different way. Every technological change creates a new reality. The railways meant that working class people in cities could travel to the English coast for short breaks, creating a new concept of travel and holidays which we now take for granted.

Sometimes people can't understand the potential of a new reality. The British government thought that the transmission of voices through the air, via radio waves, was an interesting idea but had no practical purpose. Can we now imagine a world without radio? It has transformed our perception of music, turning it into a commodity that we hear many times a day.

Computers and the internet are continually altering our perception of what is real. We have only just begun to explore the mysteries of virtual reality. In the same way that my daughters sees a computer differently from the way I do, I am sure she will encounter a different perception again through her own children.

Learn more about this author, Andrew Michaels.
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