Do you want to Upgrade?

Years of computer use reminds me that "do you want to upgrade?" is an ominous question. I suppose it appeals to the word-smithing side of my nature with a shout out to the capitalist in me.  The mere phrase uses the imagery of words to entice the reader.  In this case the consumer.

"Upgrade" is such a good word. Everyone is looking for an upgrade of some kind. If not physically then they're looking for an upgrade emotionally. An upgrade is a good thing; it is something you want. It is the very opposite of a downgrade which nobody wants.

If you get an upgrade to your seat on a plane, a hotel room, credit score or a rental car that is a very good thing.  It means by saying yes, your enjoyment factor will increase. Upgrade implies that your life will be better with it than without it. This is true in almost every aspect of life except one.

I just got a message. "Would you like to upgrade to the new Blogger interface?" It is like the flame to the moth, I can't resist.  Forgetting all that I have come to know,  I fall victim to my own romantic myth surrounding the words "upgrade" and "new".

Could there be anything better than a new upgrade?

"New" is such a good word. Almost as good as "upgrade" in the emotional imagery department. Everyone wants something new. New is better. New is the latest thing, New is something we have never experienced before,  or so we have been told.

Therefore, if an "upgrade" - which is something better than I have now- is "new" - which is something I have not experienced nor encountered before - then it stands to reason that I want this "new upgrade" immediately.

It is so easy to click on a computer button.  We assume that we know what it means when we tell a computer to do something.  We don't know. We don't know if it will take seconds or will we have to wait for the entire world wide web to reboot? Will I spend the rest of the day trying to recover files? How long will it take to upgrade everything else?  Although, it is most certainly the first problem encountered, time is the least of the problems ultimately. The new Blogger interface upgrade has taken place and what I am looking at while blogging now is different.

I write on an entirely alien landscape. The new upgrade to the interface is stark and bleak. All the romance of the words "new and upgrade" have been taken away.  It is functional and mechanical. But does it need to be more? Perhaps not. What is the contribution of the canvas to the expression of art? 

The old grade was not better nor was it worse than this one, it is just a change.  Although a change is always growth, and an upgrade is a change, an upgrade is not always growth.  This upgrade is, after all the romantic notions of how this entire experience would be better after it happened, just a different view out the same window.

As you were,

Jay