From Pen and Paper to Ones and Zeroes – There’s No Way Back Now

Angel Almaraz
Dr. Jason Farman
DTC 375
12 March 2009
Word Count: 1,200

From Pen and Paper to Ones and Zeroes – There’s No Way Back Now

I interviewed Zelma Jackson, who works for the Washington State Department of Ecology, located in Richland, Washington, as a Hydrogeologist. She is very active in the community, currently serving as the interim chair of the Tri-Cities Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She is also the chair of the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs and is a founding member of the National Association of Black Geologists and Geophysicists.

She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Virginia State University in 1974 and continued her graduate work in Environmental Geology and Uranium Exploration at the University of Washington, earning her Master’s Degree in 1984. While at Virginia State University, she took a mandatory class that required the use of mainframe computers that took up an entire room. Her thoughts on using the mainframe computers? “I couldn't fathom the ones and zeroes, what that all meant. It wasn't a reality to me, it was forced on us. When I was finished with that class, I vowed I would never touch it again. People who wanted to do computer science - that was their business, I didn't care.”

She started using a computer in her daily job in 1990, while with the Washington State Department of Employment Security. She found it “cumbersome” and the use of the computer was limited to writing letters and memorandums. Nevertheless, she adapted to using a computer because she knew that our society was changing in a major way. She saw that we were moving away from the traditional communication method of pen and paper to ones and zeroes and she does not see us going back.

Angel: Did you use computers in your first job after college?

Zelma: We did have smaller mainframes in Atlantic Ridge Field, but it was only a certain techie group that did that kind of work. They would just bring us spreadsheets, we would do our work thru a spreadsheet and then return it to them, and they would enter it in the mainframe.

Angel: What kind of computer training did you get?

Zelma: Pretty much here it is, have fun.

Angel: Did you find that you took to it pretty quickly?

Zelma: Personally, it took a while with me being that close to a machine all day long, and not people because I'm more people orientated than I am machine. And it probably took me about a year to start using it much more.

Angel: And did it slow things down or did it speed things up in your daily job?

Zelma: At that time, it slowed it down. Because I had 10 people that I was managing and it was much easier for us to communicate with them walking into the office and having a dialog then for me to sit there and type them a letter. And it wasn't good internal management etiquette to send out emails or send out conversations over the computer.

Angel: Did your staff like using computers?

Zelma: I believe the younger staff, staff members that were under 30, enjoyed the new technology. Staff members that were pass 30 didn't, and some didn't even use it.

Angel: Do you use a computer at home?

Zelma: I have a computer at home. I use it only if I absolutely have too. And the reason is because I'm so entwined in using a computer at work that when I go home I'm a brick and mortar kind of person.

Angel: Do you think you would use it more at home if you didn't use it at work?

Zelma: Yes, if I didn't use it at work then I probably would. But because now I'm so accumulated to using a computer for all my needs that I probably would have a very difficult time, matter of fact, I know I could not return to paper and pencil anymore, those days are over with.

Angel: What are the disadvantages of being a computer driven society?

Zelma: The disadvantage of the new era we're in is that more than 50% of our country is still computer illiterate. And it might even be greater. The fortyish, up to the 100ish age wise, that's the whole group or population that is computer illiterate. Under 40, to even a baby, very computer literate.

The second big disadvantage is it takes away a considerable amount of how we deal with one another as human beings. We deal across a media that is a very electronic language that takes away from the touchy-feely eye contact, what I call lovely dove feeling of being around another individual. I don't believe that we're ever going to return to that, it's almost personally as an individual you have to get up out of your chair and go and talk to someone.

The other disadvantage along that same line is that as you send messages or blog you lose emotional contact with the groups or individuals, even though there are small icons that you can put in there, that's still not a human being.

Angel: What are the advantages of being a computer driven society?

Zelma: We have moved from the agrarian society into the industrial and now we're in the cyberspace and it's probably another lever of cyberspace. You really can't get a job if you go to a store or to put in an application, everything is on the web. They even have little kiosks in the store. So the advantage of knowing how to use a computer and being familiar with the programs on the computer is that it puts you in a position where you could be economically self-sufficient.

The other advantage is that it's the quickest way to communicate; no matter if it's within your job level or externally and if, like me, you're part of a national society, no one sends paper anymore, everything is over the web. So that advantage is that you are able to communicate externally outside your work environment or your personal life environment.

The third advantage is that we've passed from the me generation to the new word for cyber group and the whole blogging group and all the other verbiage that goes along with the new language of cyberspace. If you were to communicate with your children, your siblings, or anyone in the world, you've got to communicate that way, that is the way of the communication style. And the language has changed, the text messages, even your phone, everything is now almost like a mini computer and they get smaller and smaller. And for those of us who have thick glasses it gets to be hard to see.

Angel: Where do you think we can go from here?

Zelma: I think we're just keep moving to the next level, the only way we would ever change is if we had a complete global meltdown. Of course there are many small grass roots segments of population that have gone back to more of a tribal environment in living and they're going to be islands in the world, but as far as globally, we will not go back.