Happy 2013!

As the new year begins I cannot help but think about how my use of computers has evolved since retiring from teaching in 2003. Back then I prided myself on being on the cutting edge of technology. I had a Palm Pilot type PDA  (personal digital assistant) device which held my calendar, address book, and occasional notes. My computer was a top-of-the-line Macintosh laptop with a 17 inch screen, 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM and a whopping 10 gigabytes (GB) hard drive. I kept track of student attendance on my PDA (as a high school teacher I saw multiple classes each day), and my grade book was a spreadsheet I designed to automatically compute averages and final grades. 

Much has changed since then. Teachers in schools all over the country (including my high school) keep attendance records and grades online. PDAs have been replaced by smart phones, and tablet computers have carved out a large portion of the computer marketplace. Personally I use a smartphone, tablet, and a laptop computer. And while many of the functions of these devices are not too different than the functions of their 2003 predecessors, they interact with each other seamlessly. When I make an entry to my calendar, address book or note pad on a single device the information is shared between all three devices. 

When I began writing OnMouseClick, my goal was to help novice computer users navigate the ins and out of working with personal computers. As the years passed readers became more comfortable with computer use and the focus of OnMouseClick shifted to the world of online technology – and in 2012 to social media. This season OnMouseClick will focus on tying everything together. How to setup a smartphone, tablet and personal computer to work in tandem? What accessories are necessary to make devices work smoothly? What applications (or apps as they are called for smartphones and tablets) can be used to connect and communicate with the online world? What apps can be used to make life easier and more fun? What apps keep track of important information? How can online information be kept safe and secure?

An operating system (or OS) is the backbone of any computing device, and determines how the device works. My computer, smartphone and tablet are all Apple devices, using OS X version 10.8 (Mountain Lion), and iOS 6 respectively. However, most of the applications running on the three devices have counterparts that run under Window or Android operating systems, and I will offer relevant information when available.

My 2013 personal hardware lineup includes a MacBook Pro Retina with 8 GB memory and a 250 GB hard drive; a 64 GB iPad 2, and a brand new 32 GB iPhone 5 that replaced my iPhone 4 for Christmas (thanks Santa). My husband uses a Dell laptop running Window 7, a 64 GB iPhone 4, and Santa brought him a 32 GB iPad 3^rd Generation (replacing his original 64 GB iPad).