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| A Floppy Disk from oldcomputers.net |
In 23 years, the world of technology has dramatically changed since I was dropped off at college.
My roommate and I were considered "cool" when we arrived at college in the fall of 1988 because we were the only ones on our floor to have computers. If my memory serves my right, she had a Commodore 64 and I had an Apple 2E.
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| Apple 2e from www.vintage-computer.com |
We had a good thing going that first semester, because people would pay us to use our computers to avoid the dorm's over-crowded computer lab. The second semester, most of "our computer clients" came back to school with their own brand-new computers that they got for Christmas. And some of those new computers actually had a new technology: spell-check (something our computers were lacking). We were so jealous.
Thinking about my current experience at Sinclair, what I thought was so high-tech when I was at Regis was actually really primitive. When I had a research paper, there being no internet, I had to spend hours in the library looking up research in periodicals and reference books. Want to catch up with a high school friend in college? Well, without e-mail or facebook, the best option for a poor college student was to write an old-fashion letter and wait weeks for a response. Or I could call, but long distance was pretty expensive back then. And at least during my freshman year, the phone was attached to the wall, because that was before cordless phones were popular. (Cell phones and texting was inconceivable back then).
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| Me "Back in the Olden Days" |
What is pretty scary is when my younger daughter realized that the i-pod was not around when I was in college, she asked, "Back in the olden days, when you were younger, how did you listen to music?"
'Well, back on the prairie, Pa would play the fiddle." Seriously, I do remember listening to music on 8 track tapes and record players when I was in preschool, but since this is a piece about college, I digress. My "i-pod" was a cassette tape walk man. It had the ability to clip onto my pants but it was terribly awkward so it mostly remained on my desk (with ear phones attached) for my listening pleasure.
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| Walkman from http://wiimusicbox.com |
Aww... you were a cutie back in your (original) college days, LoL.
ReplyDeleteAnd, for what it's worth, floppy disks were still in pretty wide usage the last time I was at Sinclair (around 2000 or 2001, that was), so I find what your prof said a bit facetious. But oh well.
Excellent post. A few grammatical errors, but other than that, priceless. Keep up the good work!
And she's not a cutie now Tony? I like to stir the pot a little. I found your use of humor to be very entertaining (Pa used to play the fiddle). Also, I liked how you used your daughter as a spring-board for creativity. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteLove the blog! It brought back memories of my childhood, but of course I didn't really experience these items like you have. I just recognize them.
I like the fact that you provide visuals of what you are talking about. Great touch with the photo of yourself!! It adds more of a personal feel to your blog.
Also, I liked the humor throughout the blog, especially the "better help my daughter with her homework before they create an app for that!" And I thought, it probably could happen.
I really enjoyed your blog. Great job.
That line about Pa playing the fiddle cracked me up. Floppies aren't really that out of date - we used them all the time when I was in elementary school, to run some of the math games they had us playing.
ReplyDeleteI had a Walkman, too...until I had a Discman in middle school (8 tracks are another story). The car stereo remained based on a tape deck.
I concur about the flying cars. Good use of the link. I also wish they'd hurry up and clone some dinosaurs or build me a jetpack.
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