My Betamax movies, once top of the art, are all piled there in a heap,

Stacked next to my paper tape reader, which I dearly want to keep.

My 8-bit computer with its enormous floppy drive slowly has a fit,

As compatriots discuss the latest storage gizmo, give or take a gigabit.

I can’t keep up with technology. It goes by too damn fast.

By the time I’m into something, the “something” is already past.

Take cell phones. I finally own one, but I’m a “fat finger” geezer.

To operate its tiny buttons, it seems, one needs a special tweezer.

If I don’t have the proper software, I’m told, my stuff will go to pot.

Folks, a new version is not what I need, aversion is what I’ve got.

I know my GPS will get me to the store, where I can purchase all I need,

But the GPS manual is written in Chinglish, not a language I can read.

I used to stay on top of things. "Up-to-date" was a special forte,

But today I couldn’t start my computer. My password died yesterday.

Back when I was in control, I didn’t need to be a computer nerd.

Today, I must team with the computer to churn up a new password.

All I need to start the process is to type my account’s “Username”.

If only I could remember it, I’d be on the way to virtual fame.

Where is that scrap of paper, whereon lie those lofty words?

That should never be written down. Security is for the birds.

We have all those computers linked together in the World Wide Web,

But I can’t keep up with its mysteries, with its various flows and ebb.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful gift. On it, I won’t cast aspersions,

Perhaps I will find out wisdom’s key in all those future versions. 

Copyright © 2012 by Frank Koerner