Column: 'Have your say' for The Courier Mail's Village Green

Published in The Courier-Mail, May 14, pg. 71.  Written during my placement there in April. I am in the middle of a placement in the features department, so will hopefully have more to show from that, too.

Have your say - Anna Angel, Clayfield

IT mightn't be as bloody as the Roman's, but the digital era has its gladiator-style battles.

The speed of your laptop's processor goes up against the strength of your opponent's Wi-Fi connection.

A hilarious cat video you discovered on YouTube battles their new favourite website.

If there's something better, thinner, brighter, you're losing the fight.

There are people willing to queue overnight to be top dog.

Then there are those of us stuck at the end of the proverbial food chain. We're the kind who wait until the dust has settled and the cheaper knock-offs are vying for a share of the market before we see what the fuss is about. Of course by then, the next big thing is already on the shelves.

I'm not saying we don't sometimes try to keep up. Internet memes are blown to their ridiculous proportions just from the sheer number of people wanting to get on the bandwagon before it passes them by.

As a Gen Y, I have no excuse. I accept that I should be posting 20 tweets a day, but I have always been technological plankton and suspect I always will be.

I suffered with my inadequacies until last year, when I upgraded to a smart phone. I called Optus last week after only just discovering a minor glitch that prevented it receiving internet access or applications.

As the boyfriend was connecting his fan, computer and entertainment system to a universal remote, I tried to one-up him. Oh, yeah? My phone is now so clever it knows to flash pink when my mum calls but poo brown when work is trying to rob me of my Sunday off.

He didn't seem very impressed. Apparently in the hubbub of gaining new technologies I had disconnected my very basic email service.

It will probably be another year before I get around to fixing that.

I'm too busy playing with my new digital TV. Did you know there's extra channels on there and everything?