Life before computers

Last week, my laptop died somewhat unexpectedly and quite dramatically since I'd only just managed to print out the first draft of a paper I had to submit for my university studies when it went grey, then black and then dead. Life looked pretty bleak as I pondered on what I'd lost (including the paper I'd written) and cursed myself for the fact that, as always, I hadn't done a recent backup...not for months, in fact. Anyway, in the midst of wallowing in my gloom and doom, Mo read me this poem. I suppose it's public domain, so I hope I'm not infringing someone's copyright, but acknowledgements aplenty to whoever wrote it in the first place. It gave me the first smile I'd had in days.

A computer was something on TV
From a science fiction show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean...
And ram was the cousin of a goat.....

Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bytes

An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity
A keyboard was a piano

Memory was something that you lost with age
A CD was a bank account
And if you had a 3 1/2" floppy
You hoped nobody found out

Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file
And if you unzipped anything in public
You'd be in jail for a while

Log on was adding wood to the fire
Hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
And a backup happened to your commode

Cut you did with a pocket knife
Paste you did with glue
A web was a spider's home
And a virus was the flu

I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash
But when it happens they wish they were dead!