by Matt Bird

Created on: June 17, 2009   Last Updated: July 20, 2010

Oh, precious little computer. You crash on me, you turn programs off without warning, you erase my epic e-mails just as they're about to be completed, you do the same to my articles which makes me want to throttle you and you seem capable of screwing up in just about every way possible.

Why do I still love you? Why do I remain in this abusive relationship with a bruise over my eye and a rueful smile on my lips?

There are plenty of reasons, actually. For all their bad points, computers are amazing tools that make our lives ever so much easier. So, though I normally trash on my machine, today I will make it my goal to give my computer the adulation it deserves. Here are a few reasons why owning a computer is a super, super thing.

1.) They're fast. Yes, computers can be annoyingly slow, but that's because they've set our patience levels so low in the first place. Computers beat the socks off of any other production tool we had in the past. You'll get your information with incredible speed compared to, say, a newspaper, even if you have to rely on a modem to transmit data.

2.) They're fun. You can do so much with a computer. Browse the Internet. Play games. Watch movies. Make pictures. Talk to people. It's getting to the point where the list of things you CAN do with your computer is outweighing the list of things you CAN'T.

3.) They're user friendly. So long as your computer is working properly - here's hoping it is - it'll afford you a simple browsing experience. They're a lot easier than they were in the days of DOS, that much is for sure. (Fixing one that isn't working is, of course, a different matter.)

4.) They're informative. Because you have a computer you can access the Internet. And with the Internet, you can find out what's happening on every corner of the globe - so long as it has its own 'net connection, that is. (Don't worry, most of them do these days.)

5.) They're getting smaller and smaller. We can take our computers with us these days, and quite easily to boot. Bless whomever came up with the laptop .They had a good head on their shoulders.

6.) They simplify. Remember that picture you tried to painstakingly color in, screwed up and had to start over? No longer. Scan it into your computer and do it quickly with Photoshop. Even if you mess up you can undo your mistake with a quick click of a button. More, the end result will probably be a thousand times better. The same can be said of so many other processes. Magazine production, newspaper, printing pamphlets, fliers... the possibilities aren't endless, but there sure are a lot of 'em.

7.) And, nice for those of us with an aging CPU, they're getting cheaper. It used to be that you'd pay upward of $2,000 for a so-so clunker of a computer. Now you can get the same quality for a couple hundred bucks. Score!

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