I’m going to start this post with a hypothetical encounter. Here’s an imaginary e-mail exchange I often have:

Dear Mr. Banks,

ArchiCAD is driving me crazy. I want to keep working like we did when I first got out of school. But the computer is MAKING me do things I don’t want to… Help! Fix it and tell me what I need to do to get back to the good old times. I just want to draw all day; that’s why I became an architect in the first place!

sincerely, 20th Century Architect

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Dear Old Timey Architect, Tough Shit. Deal with it. XOXO, Jared

A year ago I got baited by two whiny, downer ArchiCAD users that were complaining about some Graphisoft policy. I don’t remember the details. It wasn’t the first time I put myself into this situation and it won’t be the last. I really need to ignore these people, but I hate when people use Logical Fallacies to bully others and spread misinformation. And I love our community. So I responded with more information about their issues so that someone else searching for this topic would come across something useful. I believe their response was to essentially call me a corporate shill. Thanks guys. You got me! But that’s not what this post is about. Another commenter, sympathizing with them, had this to say:

“I just want to practice architecture and live spending much less time in front of a computer.”

I ignored the comment and tried to be helpful in private (by this point I was done dealing with rude people who kept blaming others and refused to take responsibility for their own actions). But really? Really? Practice architecture and spend less time in front of a computer? Sorry. This is 2012, not 1992. We work in a field that requires deep immersion into the digital world. You can’t be afraid of computers anymore. Maybe if you’re the principal of a giant mega firm or a sole-proprietor not interested in making a living you can get away with fearing technology. But the rest of us really don’t have that option. And that’s a good thing.

So here’s my advice:

If you want to escape from the computer, don’t run away from it. Run towards it. To steal a line from 30 Rock, go “Into the Crevasse“. Sometimes the only way out is down. Once using ArchiCAD (or whatever digital medium you use) is the equivalent to using a pencil (mindless, easy, and invisible), then you’ll just practice architecture again. If you spend your time fighting the machine, guess what? You’ll always lose. 100% of the time.