In late August 1989 I packed my green 1977 Volvo wagon with all the essential amenities plus the latest technologies for completing my school work. When I finally made it to Rochester, I unpacked and setup my dorm room. The most technological gadget in my repertoire was my Smith-Corona typewriter with spell check.
Long after investing in my first real computer, my ex-wife and I used that typewriter regularly. It was equipped with a single line LCD display that would store a line of text. Fonts could be changed easily by flip-flopping discs containing the desired typeset. Of all the typewriters in my dorm, I had one of the most advanced.
My oldest daughter is gearing up to leave home and make her journey to college. Her mother purchased most of the girlie stuff and left me with the fun stuff. My first thought was to call the school and request a list of required technology. I was shocked how minimal the requirements.
Apparently her campus maintains a substantial number of computers, printers, and other equipment for students. Talking with one of the campus geeks in the computer lab, they expect the campus infrastructure to meet peak demands.
Because my daughter already owned a MacBook, iPad, and Windows based computer, I felt her minimal requirements had already been satisfied. In addition to her current stable, I wanted to make sure she had sufficient resources to round out her academics and provide a modicum of entertainment.
Though her college implies enough printers for student use, I happen to know how a Patriquin can procrastinate. The first item I purchased was a monochrome laser printer/copier. Having access to a printer 24/7 will allow her to wait until the last minute without having to fight other students.
She’s moving into a dormitory with cable TV wired in every room. Though I’m opposed to television, I believe it’s good to have an occasional diversion. As I remember, dorm rooms can become cramped so I bought her a 24″ high definition TV which can be used as both a monitor and TV taking up a minimal amount of desk space.
I preach and firmly believe in data redundancy. Mac has a feature called Time Machine (similar to Windows Backup) which creates a mirror image of the drive. Knowing I won’t be around to rescue her in case of catastrophic failure, I figured performing periodic Time Machine backups to a dedicated hard drive makes sense. In case of a failed drive or laptop, she will have the ability to restore to a repaired or new Mac.
Transporting large files can be a nuisance if she has to schlep her laptop from place to place. Rather than stick her with another portable hard drive I opted to set her up with a handful of USB thumb drives. She ended up with a few 8GB and a single 32GB drive which should be more than enough for handling larger files.
Finally there’s all the minutia nobody thinks about until they get to school. Surge suppressors should be supplied for all electronics because nothing should be plugged directly to the wall. A few locks make securing expensive electronics easy. USB cables can break so I sent a few extras.
Technology has come a long way since I’ve gone to school. Leaving home with a typewriter, calculator and handful of pens simply isn’t enough. In a little less than a week I’ll be jumping in my 2001 SAAB to wish my daughter a fond farewell and connect all this equipment. No matter, I’m still driving a twelve year old Swedish car and probably will have to for the next four or five years.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him directly at (978) 413-2840 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)