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A woman left a long message on my voice mail saying she doesn't understand why people are so attached to their computers.

"I don't know very much about computers," she says. "I don't even like them. I'm more personal. I'd rather pick up a phone and talk to people. What is so important about this computer thing?"

Everyone's connected these days whether you want to be or not. A laptop's practically an appendage for anyone younger than 30. Don't even try to have a party conversation if you don't YouTube or Hulu.

Yet this nice reader continued to tell me she didn't see why people make such a big deal out of computers. As I listened to her message, I looked around the office and couldn't imagine any of us doing our jobs without one. Rather than trudging down to the clip morgue or lacing up the microfiche machine for hours of searching, I can research articles online in seconds. The flow of information can be mind-boggling.

The caller did concede she wasn't opposed to using computers for research, but wondered why anyone would sit and watch videos on the computer.

Sure, there's probably little reason why more than 27 million people have watched the YouTube video about the baby African buffalo calf getting caught up in a tug-of-war between lions trying to devour it and a crocodile ready for a snack. Don't worry — the final struggle has the buffalo herd fighting off both to save the calf.

But

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is that any worse than watching a "CSI" rerun? Which, of course, you can do these days online rather than waiting for it to pop up on your TV screen or even snag it off the DVR.

Like it or not, our world is now online. Had my caller left her name and number, we might have had a good discussion about it. Although we probably didn't have to.

"I really want to share my views and ideas with you about how computers are not that important," she says before ending her call. "Maybe I'll just write it all down and send you an e-mail."

And if you want to see the video of that African buffalo calf, come to the blog at www.ibabuzz.com/getelife.

Webby winner: The People have spoken.

San Ramon Valley High student Amy Schleicher, 17, learned last week she captured the Webby's People's Voice award for her student film about Habitat for Humanity. These awards have gained in prestige in the dozen years they have been around honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Web sites. This year nearly 10,000 entries were sent in from all 50 states and more than 60 countries.

The 2008 winners include the New York Times' online unit, which won eight regular Webby Awards. Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am picked up a Webby for artist of the year for his celeb-filed video "Yes We Can" supporting Barack Obama's bid for the presidency. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert earned special Webby recognition as person of the year.

The Webbys not only honor the judges' choices, but also allow the public to vote on the nominees for the People's Voice awards. As one of the winners, Schleicher will be hanging out with Colbert, will.i.am and other online celebrities during the two-day ceremonies in New York.

"My dad booked the flight almost immediately after we found out I had won," Schleicher says. "I'm going with my mom and dad. I've never been to New York before, so this will be a whole new experience for me."

The Webby Online Film and Video Awards will be held June 9. The 12th annual Webby Awards Gala is on June 10.

In keeping with Webby tradition, winners will be limited to five-word acceptance speeches. My favorite past speeches are from the Beastie Boys ("Can anyone fix my computer?") to Al Gore ("Please don't recount this vote.")

Schleicher says she's particularly looking forward to the after party with all the winners.

"I want to meet the people there who have more experience than I have in producing videos and get some tips from them," Schleicher says. "I definitely would like to go into the film business as a director or editor. Anything with video. I don't know where (the Webby) will take me." But she knows it will look good on that college application she intends on sending to film schools from UCLA to NYU.

Reach Susan Young at 925-945-4705 or syoung@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read her blog at www.ibabuzz.com/getelife.