Knowledge workers everywhere have been shaken and stirred by the advent of ChatGPT – a new bit of software that has already made my life as a writer easier, though I am not sure yet if it qualifies for that elite list, called “technology I can’t live without”.
Because there is such a list!
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A friend who lives in Melbourne, Australia complained on Facebook that he had been without electricity for several hours, in a curfew. His laptop died on him, and there he was in the dark with only his thoughts for company.
I smiled slightly but did not comment.
And recent news from Sydney that residents had been asked to conserve power in the evening as much as possible to avert blackouts prompted the same wry smile.
After all, there is no real joy in claiming the high ground on the question of being without power. All the tips I could give Australians are not really needed: sitting in the dark probably won’t happen to them again for months or even years.
Here in South Africa of course we all know what it is to be without power – that state of being for which we all grudgingly use the Eskom term: loadshedding. Continue reading
