Social networking. The internet. The web. E-mail. Texting. Instant Message. All things and words that we didn't have much use for in 1994. I caught a news article today, including a video clip, of the Today Show from 1994. Katie Couric was one of the speakers, hosts, whatever you want to call her position at the time. She was perplexed by the @ sign in the CBS e-mail address that was being displayed - probably for the first time, not sure - on the screen for her and viewers to see. It was funny. "What does it mean? About?" The gentleman next to her said "No, it's 'at' I think". No one really seemed to know.
Now the conversation turned to "What is this 'internet' thing?" And you heard an off stage voice, probably a camera man or someone helping produce the show, "it's a big computer that can talk to other computers..." By this time in the video I was laughing and then I got to thinking, yes, back in 1994 I knew VERY little about the internet, the web, or email.
My company had purchased it's first computer - a MacIntosh Apple - in fall of 1993. No one knew how to use it, but I sat down with it one day and figured out that it could be used to type up some great looking business letters, and you didn't have to use correction tape or fluid to fix errors! It let you backspace and erase your mistakes! WOW! Hey, back then that was a great improvement over the old typing equipment and methods. And you should have seen me the day I discovered there were different "fonts"! You could have fueled Apollo space ship on my enthusiasm!
At first I had absolutely no vision of what I would EVER need or use a computer for in my life. What the heck could a little box of plastic do? Other than sit there making lots of clicking and humming noises, I did not see it could do very much. But it sure made a nice damned letter! You couldn' t get that kind of quality letter layout unless you took your stuff to a printer, and even he was using the old "cut and paste" method!
Fast forward, that was 26+ years ago. I now live in a world governed and revolving around my computers and various small electronic devices such as my touch screen cellular phone (another miraculous invention straight out of Startrek!), an Apple iPod - which can probably now do MORE than that very first Apple computer I had so long ago. I laugh when I remember how large and clunky that computer monitor was. And you needed a huge space nearby it for the actual computer unit! OH and the mouse was on a string...a cord to be more precise, and the keyboard was huge, keys pushed pretty hard and made loud clicking noise. The mouse's "tail" (cord) was plugged in to the keyboard, keyboard to the CPU and then there were 18 miles of wires and cords hooking everything together and powering it up. I would not have been surprised if my father had installed a new breaker box specifically for that contraption at the time! Yes, it was a sight to behold, but it was 'high tech' and we were very proud to have it in our office. Who knew what it "could" DO...no one dared to touch it - except to use Word to write the occasional business letter...then we discovered more of the "function" and how Apple had some great ways to make it work to layout newsletters - without cut and paste! - and the world began to unfold before our eyes...today the business (like most of us!) is complete computer dependent and much more efficient!
I sit here in 2011 and recall that old 1993 computer and those times, as my fingers deftly fly across the sleek keyboard of a new laptop recently purchased at Walmart (we didn't have those around back in '94 either!) for a mere fraction of the enormous price paid for that first chunky old MacIntosh. Plus, it may weigh 3 pounds and is an iota of the physical size of 'ole faithful Macky; no cords! Also, no mouse with a worn ball that you would slap around the old "mouse pad" - which was a piece of thin 1/2" thick foam rubber, covered with material that had to be used under the old style mouse, for those younger readers who probably have no inkling what a "mouser pad" is today. It was a necessary accessory back in those olden days because the mouse's ball would not roll well on smooth surfaces, and oft times would wear out and become useless, needing cleaning or replacement on a regular basis. But, ah, the joy of using a mouse with new balls!
See, we never even imagined the monumental changes that were in store for the world as we all sat staring at the Mac in 1993. We never could have forseen that the "computer" would become so vital and integral to daily life for all of us. Nor could we understand that it could become so mobile, first dropping to a suitcase size "portable" to the even smaller briefcase sized "table top" and then slimming down even further to the "laptop" which is now taking off some pounds and evolving to the "netbook" and "tablet" and now the ever so small "handheld" (i.e. iPod, Android, etc.). We never thought that the "Doctor Spock" method of tapping a small circle device pinned to his chest and saying "Beam me up Scotty" was actually a serious vision of what was to come in today's world of "voice command" features and touch screens. And watching James Bond in 1990 using cameras hidden in pens and cuff links, hell that's normal stuff in 2011!
We have come quite a ways in the last 20 years of technology, and it's been one hell of a ride! I've watched the computer shrink in size and grow enormous in changing the way we live today. Just about every household has a computer of some kind, whether it's the mega-small iPod or a set up with it's own server and 42" flatscreen, complete wireless connectivity and Bluetooth capability. And every day there is a new "feature" added somewhere to a new fangled unit that will be available by next Christmas buying season.
We are all dependent in some way on a computer, whether it's for home entertainment, school work, business, social networking, gaming or maybe just for the doctor to keep your records accurately on somewhere in a hospital. We carry around our documents, information and entertainment on little pretty 16 gigabite storage "sticks" hanging on necklaces, key chains, bracelets, or just stuffed in a shirt pocket. We keep the household checkbook and easily do our taxes at home on our own personal computers We listen to digital music because we no longer remember how to turn on the cd player (don't get me going about record albums, 45's, 8 track tapes and cassettes...). We watch movies on everything from a 60" flatscreen to the 3.7" screen of our favorite hand-held devices. Mothers are pulling up recipes for the family dinner on Youtube in kitchens across the country. Teachers are e-mailing parents grades and progress reports and expecting a return of an "electronic signature" once it's received. Contractors are viewing on-the-spot blueprint changes at the click of a button on their telephones. And somewhere some 15 yr old kid is watching porn on Xtube.
Yes, Virginia, computer chips now rule the universe! Tweet that.
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