Eddie Arthur, The Computer Guy

I grew up between upstate New York and Florida before moving to Fort Collins in 1987 in search of four seasons and soft grass. After graduating from Colorado State University in 1994 with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, I figured I was doomed to selling poems in the park.

Fortunately, while attending CSU, I worked in the university's computer writing lab helping students navigate the formatting tortures of 1990's WordPerfect and Microsoft Word. That experience led to jobs in tech support at Verinet and later Front Range Internet after a two-year stint in Manhattan. By 2000, I decided to go into business for myself, offering house calls and fair prices as The Computer Guy.

The Computer Guy Mission

I believe in a pragmatic approach. I often hear from elders that they are just “not technical,” or they were “born in the wrong generation to understand computers.” I disagree. If you can accomplish the tasks that you like to do on your computer, then you have won the only battle there is. Don’t worry about the things you don’t know. Trust me, we all struggle with computers because they are largely still stupid, maddening, and only getting worse.

Imagine a Star Trek episode.
Spock asks COMPUTER an urgent question while being attacked by the Romulans.
There is a long pause.
Kirk, impatient, looks over at Spock.
COMPUTER voice finally responds, “Working.
. . . rebooting.”
Scotty, frantic over the intercom: “Captain! That crazy computer has gone and turned off the warp engines to do a bloody update!”
Kirk condescendingly, “Well, Scotty, override the update and get those engines back on!”
”Aye, Captain, I would, but the computer says, ‘Working on Updates —Don’t Turn Off Your Computer.’ ”
”Scotty, if you don’t get those engines back on, 430 men and women on this ship will die!”
Closeup on Scotty’s panicked face, ”Captain, there’s no way to turn off Windows 11 Updates!”
Dramatic music.
Cut to commercial.

You are not the problem! I encourage my customers to give themselves a break and understand that we all belong to the generations still dealing with unintuitive, buggy, constantly changing software that lacks an elegant, unified theory. After recalibrating your expectations, I’ll provide the tools and perspective to make your relationship with computers less stressful and annoying.