Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Mar. 3, 2007

CONFESSIONS OF A NEAR LUDDITE

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Luddite” as, “English workmen (1811-1816) who endeavored to prevent the introduction of labor-saving machinery by burning factories and destroying machines. (Said to be named for one Ned Lud, an imbecile who broke two improved stocking frames.)”

Ok, I know I’m not a true Luddite. I type, drive, use the telephone, email, etc. Through the efforts of my husband I have a web site, because I never would have put one together on my own. And of course I have a cell phone.

In fact, a continual source of amazement for me and other traveling musicians I've spoken to on the subject is how we all managed on the road before carrying cell phones. Searching for a working pay phone and then assembling the necessary coins to deposit was stressful and tiring. Calling cards made things a bit easier, but Greg and I once got nicked in an Oklahoma motel for $25 per call, even after using our ATT calling card. After that we got our first cell phone and have since become a two cell phone family. Greg set up my phone, giving me explicit and very simple instructions for its use, and installed the names and numbers in its phone book. There are many features I've never used, just languishing there waiting to confuse me.

The same thing goes, of course, for the computer. As I said, I use email, and I write this column on the computer. I don’t do the fancy stuff that most computer users would think of as being very fundamental, especially teenagers. I manage to eek by, because without email access and my web site I would not be able to book tours as efficiently, or connect with the vast music community.

However, my belief remains: There’s a ghost in every machine. What else explains the disappearance of that all important piece of writing from the computer screen? Did it fly off into the ether when you weren’t looking, or was it gobbled up and digested by the hard drive? The same goes for sound recording tracks that disappear just before the final mix down of the project. Where do they go? And what about the liner notes for a new CD booklet that re-format themselves with no help from the duplicator, even after final approval by the artist? I have experienced this first hand

So much of modern life depends on technology and its whims. We do our best, but it’s so easy to miss a step in the order of commands. Then we’re stuck, like when the car sputters to a stop on the interstate miles away from anywhere.

A few months ago in a conversation with KUSP bluegrass dj Leigh Hill I mentioned that I often have problems with technology and feel like a Luddite. He said that historically they wanted to destroy machinery, to which I responded, “and your point would be?”

Mary McCaslin manages to receive email at mary@marymccaslin.com.