A FORMER Huddersfield area man has written a book to help people get to grips with new technology.
Richard Hutchinson, who lived at Grange Moor for more than 20 years, unravels some of the mysteries of the modern world – including computers, wireless technology, texting, digital televisions and the internet – in his book, Gadgets, Gizmos and Gobbledegook.
Mr Hutchinson, who trained as an industrial chemist at the former Huddersfield Polytechnic before embarking on a career in industry, said: “The book was prompted by friends asking me to find out how things like MP3 players and HD televisions worked.
“A lot of older people are fazed by modern technology. They are petrified of using it and they have this idea that they are going to break it.
“The book aims to get things across in a way that helps people understand technology.”
Mr Hutchinson worked for printing plate company Howson-Algraphy in Leeds before taking voluntary redundancy in 1993. He and his wife Cindy, both former officials of the Huddersfield Badminton League, lived in Spain for two years before returning to set up home in York.
The 220-page paperback, published by Vanguard Press at £8.99, took about nine months to research and compile.
Mr Hutchinson said: “I discovered things I didn’t know about subjects I thought I had a good grasp of, such as car technology.”
But he added: “It isn’t that things have become more complicated with time. A lot of it boils down to ‘digital versus analogue’. For example, an MP3 player is just a digital version of a Walkman. It is just that because it is digital the quality of the sound is far better.”
The book guides the reader through computer basics, wireless communications, audio technology, television, games consoles and technology in the car to the “wired” house, mobile phones and digital photography.
It includes advice on how to go about switching from analogue to digital TV, a helpful table of computer keyboard “short cuts” and an alphabetical list of abbreviations used in texting, as well as a glossary of technological terms.
Mr Hutchinson is already working on more technology-related projects, including setting up an online magazine running articles on science aimed at students moving up to university.
