Ya know, sometimes the Universe just has to crack us upside the head with a cricket bat in order for us to find our niche, and other times people “just know” what their niche is.  Well I fall into that first category and let me tell, it was quite a wallop.  Basically I had to come to terms with realizing that, DUH, I DO have value to give in this field, and a lot of it at that!

You see, I’m just a computer geek.  That’s it at the core, I am a computer nerd.  HA! Who’d a thunk it.  Then again, I have been using computers since 1984, began repairing them in 1986, and went online for the first time in 1986 with an online service known as CompuServe.  It was all text-based back then.  No slick graphics, no video, no audio, and it took FOREVER to download anything.  AGH!

The first modem I purchased (yeah, modems didn’t come already installed in computers back then, you had to buy a modem expansion card and install it in your computer) was a 1200 baud modem.  That’s 1200 bits per second. Boy was my connection screaming back then.  LOL (Think of it this way, my connection was running at 1.2Kbps and now I’m running between 12Mbps and 20 Mbps. That’s more than 10,000% increase in speed)

Over the years I upgraded modems along the way with the last one being a 56K modem.  Modems haven’t increased in speed since then because that happened in the early ’90s and a few years later people were going online with DSL and Cable connections.  Definite improvement on download speeds and you didn’t have to tie up your phone line anymore.  Even better!

I’ve been there and seen a lot of improvements over the years in computer technology.

For instance, back when I started playing around with computers, the processor chip was an Intel 8086 for PCs and by today’s standards, it operated at a snail’s pace, although by comparison the access times were about the same as today’s because the software didn’t need as many resources as it does now.  (The 8086 was an 8-bit processor whereas the processors we have in 2010 are 64 bit processors) Also, if you wanted to do advanced math functions you had to buy a separate processor to add to your motherboard, and now that math co-processor is included in the processor chips that are sold today.

Shoot, back in ’84 Microsoft hadn’t developed into the giant corporation they are today, and they didn’t have the control and influence over the PC market like they do now. Of course, that tide is changing as Apple has continued to grow it’s market share consistently over the last few years.

In ’84 CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) was soon to be edged out by Microsoft as the OS for PCs, not because Microsoft’s MS-DOS was better, but because Bill Gates had a better vision.

Back in the early days (1980) Gates was tasked by IBM with writing an operating system for their new line of personal computers, the IBM PC.  Well Gates goes out and buys QDOS from Seattle Computer Products for a reported $50K then modified QDOS and turned it into MS-DOS.  Then Gates reportedly sold IBM on the idea of including MS-DOS with every PC they sold, eventually insuring Microsoft’s rise to the top of the Operating System industry.

IBM thought that the money to be made in computers was going to be in the hardware market, not the software market.  Boy were they wrong.  By the time they figured out their mistake Microsoft already had such a strong hold on the PC industry that IBM wasn’t even able to compete with them when they finally released their own PC OS, OS/2.  Of course, IBM had a lot of problems with making the OS stable which resulted in a lack of interest from programmers to write software for it.  It was basically doomed from the start.

I’ve used several Operating Systems over the years.  They include:

  • C/PM
  • MS-DOS
  • DR-DOS
  • GeoWorks
  • Windows 3.1 (the first widely distributed version of Windows that Microsoft produced)
  • Windows 95
  • Windows 98
  • Windows 2000
  • Windows XP
  • Mandrake Linux
  • RedHat Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • and now I’m using a Mac running OS X Snow Leopard (and looking forward to purchasing OS X Lion in July!)

So as I stumbled through the learning process, which included a ton of reading, I became my own Tech Support person and filled that role for numerous family members and friends.  I couldn’t help it, I just loved computers and was more than happy to share my knowledge.  And I did all this for FREE!

For years I just thought since I knew all this stuff about computers, surely others knew this stuff too.  HAHAHAHA!!!  Uh, NO!  “HUH?  You mean other people just don’t know this stuff?  I’m confused…”  Well then realized I had knowledge and experience that people would pay for!  “Wha????  You gotta be kidding, right?  Me? I know valuable information?”

So here I am, The WordPress Webmaster.

Look, if you want to build your own website using WordPress that’s great.  Go for it!  I highly encourage you to do so.  But if you would like to have a professional do it, then I’m your man.  Also, if you just don’t like taking care of your website, or it’s just become too tedious and time-consuming for you and you’d rather do the things that make you money instead, then I’m your man as well.

I started using WordPress about 6 months after it was first released and have seen major changes in the platform over the past several years.  I’ve watched as WordPress became the preferred blogging platform on the Internet, and now it’s quickly becoming the preferred platform to build your business website.  Amazing really.

So am I a WordPress Expert?  You bet your ass I am.  Am I a computer expert?  Damn Skippy I am.  Am I an Internet Expert, a website Expert, a web server expert?  Yes indeed I am!!!  I am your go-to-guy for website creation and maintenance.

Now, when you see what I charge you may think, “GEEZ!  This guy is expensive!!!” Or, “What?  Is he CRAZY???”

Well let me tell you this.  I can do things much faster and easier than most people.  You may pay someone $25 an hour and it could take them 5 hours and cost you $125 to do what I can in 1 hour (or less) for $85.  You can easily see that with me you would pay less in the long run. (Plus I charge in 15 minute increments)

It’s just a matter of knowing so friggin’ much about this stuff.  Am I saying I know more than most people?  Well YEAH!  What’d you think, that I was going to say I was joking?  Nope, not at all.  Psshht.  Man, I have forgotten more than most people will ever know about computers and the World Wide Web.  And I’m dead serious about that.