The birth of FBCC comes from technology’s ever-changing ways. Technology's past evolution only proves what lies ahead for all of us.

Technology has been a big part of our lives for the last 20 years. With the popularity explosion of the Internet in 1995, people started connecting to the World Wide Web, connecting to people, learning about new services, and connecting to digital information, the kind found in countless library books and popular magazines. Technology didn’t stop there. It shaped other massive breakthroughs like email, Wi-Fi, instant messaging, spam, robotics, blogs, tweets, social websites, cell phones, smartphones, financial software, and online advertisements. When each breakthrough happened, it grabbed our interest a little more. Like a steam train heading across the globe, technology has reached into the homes and the lives of billions of people.

Technology is the universal language of the next generation. The expansion of digital information is leading to full control over every facet of our lives. And as a result, we seem to have less and less control over our privacy. We are being filmed, documented, studied, and analyzed by government officials. It’s that control factor that continues to excel technology forward by leaps and bounds.

Today, all of this information can be found within a tap or a click—access to information beyond human imagination and access beyond human understanding. And, amazingly, this information can be found in a matter of minutes. Simple. Discreet. Fast. That’s the new digital age of computers.

The enormous flow of information leads many to a life of confusion. People are users of technology, not makers of it. They go along with whatever develops, surviving on the notion to either sink or swim in this digital age. They ask the advice of their friends, their children, their loved ones, and survive solely by luck and their own determination. By the time the next thing arrives, they are forever beginning all over again. They feel the pressure, the empty feelings, and the mere confusion of learning something new. Starting all over is not of interest to anyone.

What I find most compelling about technology is its need to change. New changes are on the horizon every day—changes that no one understands or willingly tries to reason with. Every single change in technology has to do with one word: “version.” When the word “version” is spoken to anyone, they freeze in their shoes. People realize that change is coming. Nobody likes change. Not professors, doctors, teachers, lawyers, business owners, and anyone else involved with computers. “Version” spells change in hardware, software, and new skills to operate and perform their jobs.

In my personal opinion, the makings of a computer club seems relevant in a period of time when no other services, training, or educational opportunities exist in our community. There are no group meetings about technology, discussions about technology in layman’s terms, and people trying to decipher what impact it has had on their lives. It seems logical that a computer club will guide users in the right direction. By offering them an assortment of training opportunities, they’ll be more in touch with the times, be more in touch with technology. An open-dialogue meeting will give users a voice they didn’t have before, and one they didn’t learn to shape while learning alone.

In summary, there’s no denying the truth of the powers and the far-reaching affects technology has had on the lives of all people on this Earth—even people in small towns across America.

FBCC hopes to break the cycle that technology has created over the years—one of pure acceptance to technology without discussion, question or conflict. By opening the doors of learning, my hope is to enhance and give hope back to the people, the real users of technology.

Lifelong learning is the main goal of FBCC.

Reasons for FBCC