My brush with fame

TECHNO-CRAZED

The business person's guide to controlling technology before it controls you

by Michael Finley
Copyright © 1998 by Michael Finley

My Brush with Fame

by Michael Finley
Copyright c 1998 by Michael Finley; Exclusive to Computer User

The old adage about fifteen minutes of fame has certainly held true for me. Mine occurred four years ago, when a book of rehashed columns of mine, called Techno-Crazed, hit bookstores.

It was the first computer title ever from Peterson's, better known for publishing books about how to get into college. They overlooked some obvious tactics, like sending the book to computer magazines, and placing it in computer stores.

But their publicity team pulled off a coup, setting up a bona fide New York City media tour: CNN Morning News, CNBC's Money Club, Sony Worldwide Radio and the big enchilada, ABC's Good Morning America.

A lone Minnesota boy with a PC clone, up against the New York media, is classic David and Goliath scenario. Unlike David, I was scared stiff. But I made up my mind I would embrace the challenge -- for my kids, as a lesson in overcoming shyness.

As the shadow of the jet crisscrossed Manhattan on our approach to LaGuardia, I knew that publicity was the key to getting my book on the best seller's list. Because this book summed up all the frustration people ever felt about computers and networks. It was funny, incisive, and doggone it, it was packed with useful, down-to-earth advice. Add to its natural merits this terrific publicity tour, and I envisioned people mentioning my name in the same hushed breath as Jim Seymour.

I must have bolted upright in the hotel bed a dozen times before the 4:30 a.m. wake-up call. I dressed and stumbled down to the limousine driver, who drove me to the CNN studios. There I found I was scheduled to follow none other than Bill Gates! Although he had the presence of mind to videotape his appearance, hyping his book The Road Ahead from the sanity of his own time zone.

The interviewer on this show was a British fellow named Stuart Varney. He introduced me as someone who divided computerdom into savants and people like himself. (Actually, I divide it into lots of types.) He said to me, "Mike, I truly hate computers. Windows is dreadfully confusing to me, and I simply hate the Internet. What do you think I should do?"

"Something else?" I asked. This was my best line of the tour.

That segment went OK. The next one, CNBC's Money Club, was rougher, because it was a financial show, and my book was about lots of things, but not finance. I could tell the anchorguy thought I was a fraud, but at least he didn't betray me with the screech of the body-snatchers.

Late that night I sat in with Darrell Ankarlo on Sony Worldwide Radio, and that went much better. On TV, the cue card is king, but on radio, the talk jock is king. Darrell and I had fun sparring with one another about Mac versus Windows, and Bill Gates' money.

In the morning, it was time to do "Good Morning America." In the Green Room, I was pacing nervously. The only other person in the room with me was a smallish woman with downy hair. I don't know why, but I assumed she was the hostess or assistant producer or something. So when I pointed and asked if the Danish on the snack tray were strawberry or raspberry, I was surprised when she turned to me crisply and said, "How the hell should I know?"

That the last thing Glenn Close ever said to me.

Anyway, after all this attention, you'd expect great things from the book. Like, people rushing out and buying it. But they didn't. This past month I got word that it was remaindered. It sold a measly 1,337 copies worldwide. Maybe it was because Peterson's was taken over by Thomson International, and they shut down our division. Just possibly, maybe it wasn't the greatest computer book ever, after all.

But it had my name on it, and I rode in a limo for two days flogging it like a pro. I will always cherish that moment in the sun. And thank you, Ms. Close, for being you.

To attend a virtual memorial service for Techno-Crazed, visit Michael's web site at http://www.skypoint.com/~mfinley/funeral.htm.

Techno-Crazed:
The Businessperson's Guide to Controlling Technology-Before It Controls You
"Finley examines the issues of 'computer mania' with clarity, comedy, and comradeship, making us feel that normalcy is within reach. I highly recommend this book to every compulsive computer user -- and to anyone who knows one." -- Steve Deyo
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AN INTERNET BOOK REVIEW

by William Sheridan

From TECHNO-crazed to TECHNO-crats

TECHNO-CRAZED

Michael Finley

Peterson's/Pacesetter Books

Princeton, New Jersey, 1995

"How To Avoid Cyberspace Stupidity"

I liked what I read on the back cover of Michael Finley's book, and I bought it as a kind of "self-defense" course to protect me from someone who has been subjecting me to their symptoms of compulsive technophoria. On the basis of my preliminary scan, it seemed like a good collection of idiosyncratic cases of technological extremism -- no great depth, but some useful ammunition.

The more I read the book however, the more I revised that judgement. This book is by far the best compendium of computer-culture wisdom that I have ever come across. Both the extent of knowledge and the breadth of comparison that Finley brings to bear on this topic, are truly exemplary.

Let me give you a few specifics:

There is a short test to administer and score yourself, and it tells you what kind of computer person you are -- from power user to technophobe, and everyone in between. It's short, simple, and very insightful. And on the basis of both mine and my wife's results, I can assure you that it's right on!

There is a running thumb-nail history of the evolution of computers that is better than many of the other books and charts I have seen elsewhere. And, it is modularized (the secret of good instruction), so it doesn't sidetract or waste time.

The advice on how to develop a relationship with an after-sales service provider, is a gold-mine of useful tips. We are all lost without repairmen and online help desks, yet we usually deal with these people haphazardly, and they don't do much better by us. Finley explains how and why we need each other, and how to behave to minimize difficulties.

The essential theme of Finley's book is that both technophoria and technophobia are undesirable extremes (I suspect they are forms of psychopathology) that should be avoided by anyone with good sense (wisdom). Neither lionizing nor demonizing gizmos is a fit attitude for self-respecting adults.

Throughout the book, Finley recommends frugality, self-reliance, patience, and good sense when dealing with computers and technicians -- and these are precisely the virtues which my own experience also recommends. There is, in addition, much more of value in the book, which is exactly why you should buy it, read it, and take it to heart!

via mfinley.com