One of the fascinating aspects of computer technology is how it has affected employability. Since I entered the workforce in 1981, professional ability has increasingly become entangled in one's familiarity with particular programs.

In today's world, unimaginable is a secretary who can't use a word processor, an accountant who can't use a spreadsheet, or an architect who can't use computer assisted design. While those things may seem obvious, there are millions of folks who fall into the cracks, struggling to pursue the work they love while attempting to overcome a lack of computer skills

I knew of a person who was secretary to an oil company CEO. She knew how to run the office. But that was the mid-1980s. By 1990, she was completely lost, unable to move beyond the Selectric typewriter.

She wasn't alone. Many secretaries struggled mightily when the memo pad was replaced with e-mail. On the flip side, I often encountered doctors who missed meetings and appointments because they never read their e-mail, preferring instead that someone print out a calendar or print their messages. Doctors disproved the theory that one had to be smart to use a computer.

Even if you are "smart," it doesn't mean it looks that way. I knew scientists and engineers who never stopped using the slide ruler. And calculators? I knew folks who could master every button on a calculator, but struggled to transfer that skill to a spreadsheet. Scientists I knew who worked on the human genome project could hardly figure out how to format a document. Then there was that bozo who administered the network who couldn't even begin to create a slide in PowerPoint ( I wonder who that was?).

So how does one make sense of all this? One of the tenants of professionalism is a commitment to self-improvement. When I was about 30 years old I learned how to program a telephone switch simply because I could type fast, a skill I picked up in an adult education class in high school. That encounter with the telephone switch introduced me to the world of mini-computers (which run telephone systems), then led to UNIX and the basis of my work today. Each turn in the road required self-initiative and self-education.

My career brought me to Alaska to teach computer courses and eventually to that horrific encounter with PowerPoint. Like it or not, it is an integral part of distance education. I succeeded by recognizing that I can't learn everything at once. I decided to keep my presentations simple. I learned from the work of my colleagues. I committed myself to learn a new thing each semester. After three years, my PowerPoint slides incorporated background styles, links to web sites, audio and video, and automatic text expansion. Fun stuff, but it began with a few words on a slide.

If you find yourself frustrated about something on your computer, don't get mad. If it is important to you, commit yourself to learn something from the experience. Get a book, obtain training and invite a friend to help. Pick one thing and master it. Then move to the next.

• Eric M. Niewoehner can be reached at column@juneau.isa-geek.net.