Computer usage
Not just for playing games
Some contributors to the BBC debate Should benefits be linked to community service? expressed their resentment at unemployed people using computers, thus showing their ignorance both regarding access and the importance of computers. To assume that unemployed people use computers primarily to play games, and that they do so via home broadband connections, is typical stereotyping but, while there may be some cases where the stereotype fits, it certainly isn't true in all - or even most - cases.
Libraries provide free access
It's possible these days to have free internet access at local libraries. Leicester public library allows library members a maximum of two hours per day when the library is open. (I know that some councils only allow one hour.) I used the facilities there for more than three years when I didn't have internet access from home. Two hours per day was never enough for me in those days, but is really quite fair and would be more than enough for most people. It would certainly allow time to do a lot of job searching and still leave enough for non-essentials such as responding to ignorant rants in the BBC debate Should benefits be linked to community service? and other similar debates.
Quite apart from cold wintry days when I am attracted by the warmth, I still use Leicester public library occasionally at other times. The software is different from what I have at home, so I can (for example) update my CV there without having to wait until I can afford to buy the software. Data protection is another issue that may cause me to use Leicester public library. If I want to use a website that plans to use my IP address in whatever way it chooses, it is wise of me to avoid using my home computer. Of course, there are also times when my home internet connection goes down and that's another reason for using Leicester public library.
Friends and relatives
It is entirely possible that unemployed people are allowed the use of computers owned by relatives or friends, not forgetting that some people bought their computers during their former employment. Actually, it's amazing how many people make the erroneous assumption that if somebody is unemployed, they have obviously never worked in their life, as I explained in Am I a benefit scrounger?. Given that computers can be a powerful job-hunting tool, people will retain their computers and make use of them.
Education and training
Computers can also be useful as an educational tool. I used an old home computer to learn Visual Basic more than a decade ago. I have not used my new computer for any home learning as such yet, but I continue to make regular use of HTML and CSS, sometimes adding to my knowledge but also ensuring, by regular use and by updating Blog setup when I learn new stuff, that I don't forget what I already know. I should add that, if I had received the correct support, or a lack of government interference, I would have been able to do a lot of home learning.
E-mail is also important to me, and not just for job applications. Having decided to sacrifice a social life, it is important to at least maintain regular contact with other people and e-mail is a good way of doing this. Internet forums are another way of communicating with people, but many of them are ruined by people who just want to rant. Sometimes I find them useful, but I prefer e-mail. My other way of communicating on the internet is via what I post on MySpace and Amazon or on my blogs such as this one. However, although they sometimes generate feedback, they can't be considered genuine two-way communications.
Broadband
Regarding the broadband connection, the basic telephone line rental forms the main part of the cost. The extra cost for the broadband connection is a smaller amount. It is worth noting that I use the internet for the vast majority of job applications. Postal applications, if done in bulk, cost a lot of money, so the broadband connection largely pays for itself that way. I used to have a dial-up line years ago, but when I looked into connecting the new computer to the internet, I found only marginal cost difference between dial-up and broadband. But as I explain when discussing My lifestyle, I might give up my telephone and with it, my home internet connection. However, I have copies of all my important blog pages at home so I've prepared for the situation and will be able to copy my updates to and from Leicester public library. I can therefore use my time there more effectively than during the earlier three-year period when I was offline at home.
Computer upgrades
My original plan, based on Microsoft's withdrawal of support for Windows 98, was that I would upgrade my existing computer to Windows XP, which would have involved upgrading the MS Office software as well as the operating system, so it wasn't going to be cheap. It was important to me to get back online so I saved hard over a period of several months. However, I delayed the plan until after my time on the New Deal Waste recycling project. By then, Windows Vista had arrived. I discovered that the cost of upgrading my old computer no longer made any sense financially, so I bought a new computer instead. It didn't have MS Office, but it at least allows me to access the internet and do some other simple tasks. Because of all the policy uncertainties caused by New Deal and its replacement, I'll do without MS Office until I'm pensioned off.
EXCEL spreadsheets
In my page titled EXCEL spreadsheets, I discuss an interview that I attended for a job with Social Care Recruitment and how it helps me despite being unsuccessful.
Important for me
So as you can perhaps now understand, a computer is important to me (and many other unemployed people) for a variety of reasons. If I had received the correct support, or a lack of government interference, my computers might have helped me secure employment, as my original home computer did in The nineties job quest. Without computers, I wouldn't have even come close to getting the job with Social Care Recruitment. Threats to stop benefits, New Deal, a negative attitude to training and other obstacles did not create an atmosphere in which I felt it worthwhile to invest in software.
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