I love technology.
While that’s a VERY broad statement (as ‘technology’ encompasses a very large number of things), it’s generally true. I’ll try to be a little more specific for you, though, as I can admit that saying ‘I love technology’ is like saying ‘I love things made of matter!’. I love computers, and computerized gadgets – for example: laptops, smart phones, ipods, networking equipment, computerized AV equipment, etc.
When I was a youngster, my parents brought home a computer made by Texas Instruments. I was much too young to know (or remember) the model number of this machine – even though I spent inordinate amounts of time in front of it. I remember it had a TV for a screen, and sported two 5.25″ floppy drives which were used for everything you wanted to run – including the OS. Playing a game was an exercise in patience – waiting many minutes for the OS to load, then having to load the game. After all that waiting you got a game with monochrome graphics that were…. lacking. Except back then they weren’t lacking – they were awesome and I loved them. From a very young age I was hooked.
Throughout the years the computers in the house were upgraded to newer and better equipment. Eventually a Intel based 486DX was brought in, sporting Windows 3.1 and DOS. I spent many hours writing boot disks to get various games to work right.
Then we eventually got an account with an ISP, and I was exposed to the wide world of the Internet… via a 14.4kbps modem.
Back then, if you had told me that eventually my computing experience would be like it is today, I would have laughed at you.
I am constantly amazed at how much computer technology has changed in the years since I became aware of, and fell in love with, computers. From a machine with no hard drive and no built in OS, we’ve come to today where I have an incredibly large hard drive that’s capable of running multiple operating systems at the same time (virtualization FTW).
As I sit here writing this I’ve got two operating systems running, various applications open on each. I’m using a graphical interface that is gorgeous and am streaming music (via itunes and simplifymedia) from my itunes library at home to my work laptop, am able to instantly talk to people on the opposite side of the planet in real-time while checking my home alarm system to verify all is quiet on the home front.
We take this all for granted. We have all these amazing capabilities and technologies, and all we can seem to do is complain about their shortcomings instead of look at their amazing qualities and benefits. In my pocket I have a cell phone that is more powerful than the first few computers my family owned COMBINED.
Think about that.
Quite often I’ll hear people mutter “stupid piece of crap phone” because their mobile phone was a few seconds slow at displaying something, or doing some function they wanted of it…. completely forgetting the fact that it’s amazing that they have a computer in their pocket, capable of doing a LOT of neat, useful things.
Every day, the world of technology never fails to amaze me.
I look forward to what’s to come, if its anything like the mass of changes I’ve seen in my lifetime so far it will be a very fun, and productive, ride.
I hear ya.
My first connections to the Internet was over a 300baud modem! 14.4 was a god-send.
I’m one of those people who yells at his phone (although not just because its slow, but because its unresponsive to the point of clear malfunction). However, I do often appreciate all that it is …
Recently, NASA bombed the moon. They transmitted video of this live – from the moon. I was in my bed when all of this was happening, so I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, and within in a few taps was watching on my handheld personal communication device a live transmission FROM THE MOON!!!!
The nature of this was not lost on me, and I did offer some well deserved praise to my phone.
The change in technology is amazing and it is easy to get frustrated with it. Good post and good memories. ; )
It is easy to get frustrated with it… and whenever I do I try to remind myself of how far it’s come, and how incredibly cool it is that it can do all the neat things it can. I also smile and look forward to all the awesome things to come