I am 49 years old. Apple computers have been part of my equipment since April 1989. I was 27 when our first Macintosh Plus with an external disk drive arrived, and since that moment, I have been in love with every device I’ve bought from Apple. Believe me: there have been many devices passing through this home!
In the early 90’s, we started to use the internet. E-mail and web surfing with Netscape. A new world was opening up. I have lived almost half my life with computers and the internet. I am, in fact, a good user, and I know more than the average user. In 2005, I started my first blog, Åsa Mitt i Världen – my Swedish blog and in 2008, I was hooked by Facebook, though I had tried it earlier but didn’t like it. Today I write on six blogs (planning one more…) and on three Twitter accounts.
The world of social media is very familiar to me. Sometimes I run into situations that remind me that many people still don’t use mail, the internet, or social media. Today I read in the local paper about an old man who got a shock just before paying his bills at the bank. Without any information, they raised the payment fee from 50 kronor to 150 kronor. He paid four bills = 600 kronor. I do understand the bank’s wish to get more people to use other ways to pay, like the internet, but come on, the man has been a customer for 60 years. He’s worth some extra nice treatment!
This week, I gave a lecture on social media for business owners, and some were already using Facebook or Twitter; others hesitated. Their arguments are ”Facebook is not safe” and I say ”Well, but you can decide what you want to share and you can adjust the safety level” and another argument is ”I can’t get the time” and well, I can understand that partly but not if the option is that the customer chose another product because it’s accessible on the internet and they like the Facebook group.
At the beginning of the 90s, people talked a lot about online shopping, but I think it’s a phenomenon that didn’t really take off until later, maybe from 2005? I buy a lot of stuff online. What impact does online shopping have on the IRL shops? I have no statistics on that, but I’m sure that if I had a shop, I would also have an online shop. Or just an online shop. And if I had an online shop, it would probably be a good idea to build a relationship with customers, for example, through a Facebook page.
Some people still seem to think that computers are for young people – but hey, I was young when it started, and I have learnt so much over the years because I’m curious and love Apple. Today, I’m also experienced, still curious, and love Apple.
Even so, sometimes I think about everything that has happened since April 1989. I knew nothing about the future. I still know nothing about the future. That’s exciting.
