Technobiography

Until 1994 about the only "technology" that I was familiar with was my TV and my families CD player. Once in a while my dad would bring home his laptop from work at let me play with it. But being completly unfamiliar with a keyboard and mouse, I hardly had any intrest.

In 1994 we got our first computer, got cable, we got a new van with power windows and locks, and I got my very own personal cassette player. (And my little brother was born incase you wanted to know). Now looking back I can hardly believe that being able to play games on the computer, having more that 3 fuzzy channels, or being able to hit a button to roll a window down in a car, technonlogy, but it was. But even then, I don't feel like relied on technology the way we do today. It was nice to have, but wasn't totally nessesary. Now you really can't have a job or be a student if you don't have a computer and a internet connection. I didn't type my first paper till 8th grade. Now young elementary school students are expected to type papers and create power point presentations.

Now days I can't live without my cell phone, I can't imagine not being able to listen to thousands of songs on my iPod, and whenever the internet connection is lost or slow, you would think my life is going to end soon. And gosh, heaven forbid you can't find a wireless signal.

It probably wasn't until 2000 that my family began to aquire some of this "new technology that exsists today. We got a "better" dial-up connection to the internet, and I discovered the joy of being able to email my friends in states far and wide (we moved and traveled a lot), but I didn't aquire my own email address until a year or two later.

We also got a cell phone that year. And boy was it a clunker. I could probably fit like 10 of my current cell phone in it. And even then, it was for emergancies only. My dad got his own a couple years later, a flip phone none the less! I did not get my own phone until I was 17. I had probably only witnessed a text message just a year before or so. And even then, who thought that you would ever be able to send them unlimitedly or be able to live without sending 5,000 texts a day.

And the joys of cable internet a few years later. I think I was in 9th grade when we got it. It was exciting to be able to surf the net, and never have to worry about counting minutes. And it was sooo fast. I also got an IM account since I had no restrictions on my online time.

I got my own computer my senior year of high school, and then my freshman year of college I got a laptop too. (Yes, I need two). Actually everyone in my family has their own computer, with my dad and I having 2. It's crazy to think that we once all shared one.

And of course their are the MP3 players and digital cameras, that in the past few years I have aquired. These days it seems silly to think that we once lived without all this technology. But people did, and with even less than we have today. I can't imagine my only form of communication with someone being a letter that takes 2 weeks to be delivered. Now I just hop on my phone and send a text or leave a comment on someone's Facebook when I want to say hi!