Don't
Wait Too Long to
Upgrade Your Computer System
by
Barbara Brabec
It's easy to become complacent about a trusty old
computer system. As long as it continues to do the job it was originally
purchased to do, we tend to overlook the fact that our setup is something
of a dinosaur. It took ages to master our favorite software programs, and
they're working just fine, thank you, so why upgrade? That only means more
time needed to master the newest changes or improvements and more time
needed to study the online manuals or how-to books when we need serious
help with a particular program.
Even when we're aware that we've fallen behind,
technologically speaking, we justify it with the excuse that we're so busy
all the time that we don't have time even to shop for a new system. And we
keep waiting to buy because what is state-of-the-art one month is sure to
be ancient history the next. Things are just happening too fast for most
of us. No wonder, then, that we just keep plodding along and making do
with what we've got. It's so comfortable—and how we hate to leave our
comfort zone!
But there is great danger in waiting too long to upgrade
your computer system, especially if it is the life's blood of your
business. If you would be dead in the water without computer power, it's
time to analyze your setup and figure out how you would get out of trouble
should some part of your system suddenly fail.
This is a lesson I first learned in 1994. I
had just decided to start shopping for a new computer when my monochrome
monitor for my old computer flashed and died in the middle
of a word processing document. No problem, I thought, I'll just buy a new
monitor. Surprise! My computer was a dinosaur and no one was making
monitors for it. It was sheer luck that a business pal had just decided to
sell his old Leading Edge monitor, which got me through until the new
computer arrived.
Only then did I begin to understand the direct
relationship between monitors, printers and CPUs and how quickly
everything was changing. If you're still using an old computer, you should ask yourself where you'd be if your old
monitor or printer died and couldn't be repaired. The new monitors and
printers may simply be too powerful to use with older systems.
Each time
I've upgraded to a new computer and new operating system, from DOS to Windows 98
to Windows XP, it has been something of a shock to see how much had changed in
the Interim. Sooner or later, all of us probably be forced to upgrade to
Microsoft's memory-hogging VISTA, but that is one change I'm going to delay as
long as possible.
Old Software and New Machines
If you're
like most business owners on the Web, you have learned that some of your
favorite software programs were designed to work with certain
microprocessors, and when you bought a new computer, you probably had to discard
some old programs that wouldn't run on the new system. Some of us held on to old
computers for a long time simply because they did one specific thing that we
wanted them to do, but then something happened that forced us to move on.
Dan Carlson, one of the featured business owners in my book, Make
It Profitable, had been baby-sitting his 286 computer for a long time
because it was just perfect for doing invoicing and correspondence. He and
his wife/partner Maureen, had their Pentium computer for the Internet and
graphics design, but the 286 was a great second computer.
"It was still working just fine and I didn't need a
faster computer," he told me, "but in the fall of 1999, UPS said
everyone either had to upload their shipping data to their data center or
they would not service us for daily pickup. Because Starship, our UPS
shipping interface program, would not run on my 286 any more, I was forced
to buy a faster machine. We did not have a way out unless we
hand-delivered the boxes to them. Changes like this take time, money and
patience. I don't like it when options disappear, but one has to live with
it," Dan concludes.
I'm sure this sort of thing has continued to happen through the years far more
than I'm aware. The bottom line here is that it's important to stay abreast of what's
happening in the computer industry and upgrade your system when necessary.
The longer you wait to do this, the greater your learning curve, and if
you wait too long, your business could suffer greatly if your old system
crashes.
Making a big leap in computer technology is going to
involve some pain, but having done this several times times now, I can see that the pain of
change was well worth it. I'm sure you will find this to be true also.
