An early memory of technology begins with my brother and a Commodore 64. I was disgusted by his need to tie up our one phone line with his annoying modem. I was a teenage girl and I had an important need to be on the phone. My brother had a propensity towards using electronics that I did not. Looking back on the past, I now find it ironic how uncomfortable I have felt for the past few days since my computer stopped working and have had to wait for my new computer to arrive.
Other memories of the past include listening to records and eight-track tapes on our console music player in the living room. My sister and I had to be careful when we danced so that we didn't cause the record to skip. Furthermore, I found it extremely frustrating that I had to wait for my favorite TV shows to come on the black and white television.
In time, color television became the norm and TV programs were available on a regular basis. Cable TV and the VCR offered movies in the comfort of the family home. In high school, I learned to type on an electric type writer and actually took word processing on a computer the following year. We saved our documents on big floppy disks and printed our work on paper with green lines on the back. The Walkman was a new way to listen to music. I no longer need to worry about scratching the records because music was now readily accessible on cassette tape. I no longer needed to listen to music in the living room because music was easily accessed on a variety of portable players.
In college, I had the advantage of using a word processor to type assignments. Yet, this advantage was sometimes a disadvantage because computers were not always reliable and my knowledge of computers was not great. Research was done on microfilm or microfiche. During graduate school, I had to travel to various college libraries to find research material. In contrast, now I do all the research from the comfort of my home.
When I first started teaching, I had one Apple II computer available to use in my classroom. It was used for word processing and to make banners. Eventually, the school where I was teaching installed a computer lab and wired the classrooms for the internet. I still remember the excitement most of the teachers felt when we could access websites! Today I work in a school where every classroom has a smartboard and multiple computers.
I have gone from a black and white television with limited programming to having a 52 inch color television with 900 channels available 24 hours a day. Now, I have multiple cordless phones in my home and an iphone that I carry with me compared to the one rotary phone connected to the wall in my childhood home. My car has a CD player that shows movies and a navigation system to help my find new places. Now as I await my new laptop computer with Windows 8, I can only wonder where technology will take me next!
Anne, your journey sounds much like mine - though the big change in technology really happened as we had young sons and they drove the changes in our home. I remember the day we all drove to New Hampshire to buy our first Apple IIe - NH because of taxes. It was a family event - even the youngest son was a part of it.
ReplyDeleteWow! Anne, your story sounds a bit like mine, but what I didn't cover in my blog. I can relate to the the phone line being tied up by my kids and the black and white t.v.! Oh the memories of long nights in the college library searching through miles of microfiche! I don't miss that. We both seem to have experiences with those technological crashes...not fun! I too look forward and wonder where the world of technology will bring me next!
ReplyDeleteI too had a fancy walkman and used it all the time thinking I was the coolest person ever! I am very jealous about your CD player that shows movies!!! Sometimes on my long commute I think about how watching something would be fun instead of listening to the sames songs over and over on the radio. : )
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