Interview with Jack Tashkanyan

Jack Tashkanyan currently lives alone in Brea, California. He comes home from a hard day of work, his hands worn by labor. When asked to retire he responds, "I like to work." Jack Tashkanyan was born in Tehran, Iran in 1939; he worked as a mechanic after high school until he moved to California at age twenty six. At sixty two years old, he now works at his own auto repair shop with his three older brothers. Jack Tashkanyan was introduced to the internet in 1995 and now uses it regularly. He now uses the internet to run his business and as his main source of information. One year after he was introduced to the internet, Jack Tashkanyan replaced all of his auto repair manuals and books with

the internet. He now enjoys working with cars and traveling around the world. He says he doesn't regret this decision; the internet just makes life easier.


I was born in Tehran, Iran on December 13, 1939. I grew up and I went to school in Iran, when I finished school I worked at an auto repair shop. I realized that I don't enjoy life in Iran, I would move to the United States of America. I came to the United States on... uh 1979... 1979 I remember it's funny I came here and while waiting outside the airport, some lady tried to well uh steal my luggage. I remember being miserable you know, not knowing how to speak proper English and all. It got a lot better after a while.
 

A friend of mines showed me the internet and I was amazed, you should have seen it back then. At the time when I was going to high school there obviously wasn't any internet. I was amazed at how advanced it was. When I used the internet around 1995 or 1996, even though it was extremely slow and less effective I knew this is going to be the future of the information source. I mean this thing was amazing. It has to be the greatest change I have witnessed through my lifetime. We had a much less limited source of information before the internet age, we didn't have the ability to share the information so quickly; for me it has been a very effective tool. For example we had a Pontiac Firebird that had an electrical short and I spent hours and hours to locate the short and I couldn't find it. I checked on this website called International Automotive Mechanics Association. I was able to fix the car in half an hour. There are so many examples on this as far as management, so if it was before 1995, it uh would have taken me a lot more time to solve that problem I would have to ask around and uh read manual after manual just to locate the electrical short; the internet helps me run my business a lot more effectively than before.
 

The internet is one of the most important tools that somebody can use. I mean it can be useful in many different ways from finding information, to checking the weather. The internet is also used to run many businesses, that's why when you see the power goes out you see many businesses shut down. When the internet first came out not... uh not many people knew how to use it or even uh know about it. After a year or two it started to become more and more popular. It finally got to the point where I remember I went to a job interview and the employer asked me if I knew how to use the internet; I uh didn't know what to say. I obviously didn't know how to use it so after that interview I went and I took that semester class at Fullerton College. Now that the internet is so widely used there obviously is a disadvantage in my opinion. Many businesses require you to know how to operate the internet so I think there is a disadvantage. I never learned how to use the internet when I was young um... at first I was very uncomfortable; I took a semester class at Fullerton College.
 

Obviously, the internet makes life a little bit easier. Finding your way around lets say by using Map Quest or getting news and weather. I think the internet is a much faster way to get our hands on information, now I can find information from the internet instead of looking through a newspaper. Before the Internet for news I would use the newspaper. While this wasn't bad at all, the weather gets updated very quickly, now I uh can find information that is more up to date. For my business I had a lot of books and manuals, now all I use is a laptop. I have to admit I use less and less books which I'm not happy about, but uh living in such a busy lifestyle I think by using the internet it's the only way I can get through the day. I know it sounds like I'm lazy but I think many people would agree with me. As long as you use it the correct and right way the internet is here to stay.
 

Without the internet the world would obviously feel like the dark ages since many people are so used to using the internet. Well it's not like the information wasn't there, it just wasn't as easy to get. Let's see, now that the internet is becoming more advanced I think the future of the internet is going to be even more effective than before. I think books and newspapers will always be here but I think the internet is here to stay. You just have to decide for yourself most of the information from the internet is reliable but there are websites that have false information. I went out and bought my first personal computer as I got more comfortable. You can run your business or find your information with the click of a mouse.

Interviewed by Shant Movsessian