While he uses them daily, Mr. Burrow is not a particularly big fan of computers. He sees them as a necessary tool to get things done, but he does not see a need to have the latest state-of-the-art technology. For fifteen years he did most of his work on an Apple II-e he bought in 1984 (and also a Laser 128, a clone of the "compact" Apple II-c). He really liked this dinosaur of a machine (and particularly the "Appleworks" word processor) because it was NOT mouse driven; all the commands were entered simply and easily via the keyboard. For better or worse, in 1999 he replaced the old II-e with a Windows-based Gateway computer. The Gateway also became obsolete, and in 2005 he became the latest dude to get a Dell, a Windows XP machine. In 2009 he supplemented that with an Acer netbook (also Windows XP), which he loved. Unfortunately that computer was stolen, and he replaced it with a larger Dell laptop with Windows 7. At work he uses a variety of computers, ranging from ancient to new. In 2014 he acquired another Acer netbook, which in 2020 was replaced by a slightly larger Acer laptop. Because of a bad battery, he replaced that in 2023 with an H-P laptop that now runs Windows 11. He also had a Chromebook that was a castoff from the school where he works, and he has no desire whatsoever to enter the Apple "i"-world.
For several years Mr. Burrow accessed the internet through Web TV. He was one of the first subscribers to the WebTV service, and he maintained his account, and he kept his "classic" web box until May, 2000, when a theoretical "upgrade" from WebTV Networks completely ruined the electronics.
Mr. Burrow got his first smartphone (a Motorola Moto E) at Christmas 2015. This has been updated a couple of times, most recently in the fall of 2020 with a Motorola XT-1995DL Android device. His primary phone is a prepaid Tracfone, but he also has an inexpensive Samsung device with dual SIM capability to use when traveling abroad. He likes the idea of a smartphone, but he is not a fan of the touchscreen interface and particularly the absurdly small virtual keyboard found on a smartphone.
Mr. Burrow probably spends more time on YouTube than any other site on the internet. He also visits Snopes.com and a couple of blogs daily, he does a large part of his shopping through Amazon, and whenever he needs an answer he goes to Wikipedia. He has also explored much of the world through Google Maps street view. He almost exclusively uses the Chrome browser when he is online, and he almost always accesses the web using a computer rather than with his phone.
While he spends a lot of time on the internet, Mr. Burrow fails to see the attraction so many people have to sites like Facebook and Twitter (a.k.a. "X"). He prefers to keep his social interactions with real people, rather than "friends" from online networks who are rarely even acquaintances. Whenever he has been to sites on social networks, they just seem like fluff, with little content anyone but the creator would care about. (That is, of course, also probably true of this website.) It also strikes him as a bit creepy that some people want to share embarrassing and sometimes incriminating pictures of themselves or that they feel the need to constantly update the world on the trivial details of their lives. Similarly, he fails to see the need many people have to "interact" by posting their pointless responses to blogs, news articles, or YouTube videos.
He prefers words like "explore" to the ubiquitous "surf" to describe his usage of the Internet. For years he had dial-up internet at home, and even with broadband, he still dislikes sites that are unnecessarily graphics intensive and especially those that make unnecessary use of rich media formats.
Mr. Burrow learned how to program in traditional BASIC when he was in high school. In college he continued his work in BASIC, he also learned Fortran (the language from which most recent versions of BASIC appear to derive), and he did a small amount of work in elementary Pascal. As an undergraduate assistant, he helped author and de-bug numerous computer games and educational software programs, most of which seem absurdly primitive by today's standards. While he enjoyed programming in these now archaic languages, he never seriously considered a career in software design.
As an adult, Mr. Burrow has enjoyed teaching himself HTML. He likes the language, and it amuses him that many HTML commands are analogous to the commands used in the "Appleworks" word processor he liked so much. He believes that most web authors spend far too much time on needless "bells and whistles" of presentation, at the expense of useful content.
Mr. Burrow tends to prefer language and menu-based interfaces. Having become very adept at using older versions of Microsoft Office, he was extremely upset at the Office 2007 "upgrade" and its bizarre "ribbon" interface. (Interestingly, most people who are longtime Office users seem to prefer the old interface; Office 2007 (and later) seems to appeal mostly to less experienced users.) He currently uses Office 2021 with an add-on tool that emulates the traditional menu bar. He prefers owning a permanent copy of Office to using the subscription-based Office 365 or other online services.
This website began in 1998 on the free server at Geocities. The original URL was extremely lengthy: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/3224/ (a URL that was still supported for several years after GeoCities ceased to exist). Eventually Yahoo took over the Geocities service. As the site expanded and Mr. Burrow began storing information for his colleges classes on it, he began to pay for an ad-free service. In 2008 he moved to the davidmburrow.com domain (which was served for years by Yahoo, but eventually cast off to Turbify), mostly because doing so cost less than continuing at a Geocities "premium" address. Geocities permanently closed in 2009, since like most ad-supported free web services, it failed to generate significant money. Hopefully davidmburrow.com will remain on the web well into the future.
Although he believes all authors should exhibit responsibility, Mr. Burrow strongly defends the right of free speech--both on the Internet and in the physical world. He believes, however, that government, citizens, and web publishers must work together to solve the problem of youth access to adult sites.
Advice on computers
(from Dixie (Julie London) on the '70s TV show Emergency)
Picture from the webcam on Mr. Burrow's Acer Aspire netbook
David Burrow's now-defunct WebTV inernet terminal
Links to other sites on the Web
Stupid Internet Surveys (and How David Burrow Scored on Them)
The Electronic Magic 8-Ball
Apple II Computers
WebTV
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