In 1991 I remember my father bringing home a computer from his business. I was four years old and thought this huge, bulky machine was great. My family thought it was an eye sore having something so large and undecorative, so we stuck it in my sister’s room. My sister and I would play all sorts of games on it for hours at a time determined to win and move on to the next level. My favorite games were Pac-man, wheel of fortune, and wall blast. The images were very pixilated and used bright neon colors. There were only games, a typing program, and programs for my fathers business. I remember there only being drives for the huge, hand sized floppy disks. I now find it so strange that we never had a mouse to navigate our way around the computer screen. We had to use keys on the keyboard to find our way around.
The following year I started kindergarten and was able to use the computers a few days a week for spelling and math activities. There were headphones for each computer that had bulky earpieces and a piece that came down to your mouth for you to be able to speak into. I remember thinking the headsets were so awesome because they looked like headsets employees had to wear at McDonalds to place your order. (For some reason that fascinated me.) I continued using computers almost everyday throughout elementary school. I use to have to use encyclopedias to find information for projects and papers but toward the end of elementary school and beginning of middle school I could just type in a few words and get endless amounts of information. I still find it unbelievable how much information you can get on the most random of topics.
When I was in fifth grade we had upgraded our computer at home and got the Internet. There were countless fights in our house about wanting to use the phone and someone being on the Internet and vice verse. I can still hear that awful, load, and annoying dial up tone to connect to the Internet that seemed to take forever. When we first got the internet I would use it some for class projects but as soon as AOL Instant Messenger came around when I was in sixth grade it was all down hill from there. My father would have to pry me away from the computer. Now that I look back on it, it was a huge waste of my time. It only fueled rumors and gossip for people my age. Today I have found better use for Instant Messenger. I very rarely sign on but I find it helpful in the workplace. It is easier for me to ask someone across the room a question if I am in the middle of something instead of stopping what I am doing and walking over to them. It is hard to believe how far computers have come in just a few short years. I can’t wait to see what is ahead.
