I remember when our family first got a personal computer, a PC. It was 1996 and I was 12 years old. I remember how excited I was. This shiny new thing that would allow us to use the ‘internet’. What the hell was the internet? I wasn’t sure, but I’d heard you could learn about anything on it. Get info on your favourite TV shows and comic books, get the latest news about movies. My friends told me you could even see naked ladies on it. I was 12, I loved cartoons and movies and video games and comic books and I had recently discovered ladies so needless to say I was pretty excited. When it arrived I remember it well. I remember My Dad yelling and throwing things around as he tried to set it up and I remember how precious he was with it afterwards. I remember we had our very own inkjet printer and I very specifically remember the signature dial sound of the modem as it connected to the ‘world wide web’. I also remember calling people and getting an alien noise from the other end, something I am thankful is no longer a thing.
Recent lectures on the history of the internet and the personal computer have left me nostalgic for the past but also immensely grateful that it is just that; the past. The humble PC has come a long way from its origins as a text only black and white or black and green screen machine that required lengthy training to be able to perform even the most basic functions on. Thank God for the development of this peace of technology to a place where ease of use is almost totally ubiquitous and the end user is is the goal. We live in good times for technology. Sometimes I see these kids who don’t remember a time before the iMac or before slick user interfaces or before wifi and I feel a little bit jealous and a little bit sorry for them at the same time. They will never feel the pain of an internet page that took 30 minutes to load, just to crash upon opening. They will never have the joy of the ‘interactive CD-ROM’ and all of its cool sound bytes and emporium of knowledge that was accessible only by disk. And more pertinently, they will never know just how good they have it with todays UIs and ease of use of technology.
I remember my dad got angry at the ‘stupid machine’. I remember I used to trawl my favourite cartoon and video game sites. I remember I used to be so excited at the wealth of information available to me, so while I am a bit disappointed that I still can’t seem to find Encarta 95 CD-ROM anywhere, I guess in many ways things really havent changed that much.
MADE 