Remembrances of Technologies Past

I spent some time yesterday afternoon hunkered down with my Vista-ridden computer installing a CD my wireless carrier sent me to override the Vista curse. Naturally, it didn't work the way it was supposed to; what ever does? I was able to circumvent the problem area, however, and force it to work at least close to the way it was intended to. I may yet uninstall all the software and reinstall it to make it dovetail more efficiently. I don't know how I know how to do these things. I've never had any computer classes. I just turned on my first computer and took off with it, learning as I went.

How many of you remember black and white TV sets? Or rotary dial phones? As soon as color TVs and Touchtone phones (in rainbow colors!) came along, I had to have them. My grandmother stuck with a black rotary dial phone into the early 90s. I did my school typing on my mother's old Underwood manual typewriter. It was hard, but it got the job done. When I first got my hands on an electric typewriter, I was in love and never looked back. My mother still fusses about how complicated electric typewriters are and wishes she still had her old manual. I'm not even going to tell you about my ordeal with trying to get her computerized. Let's just say I could have used some nice Prozac. My first cell phone was big and bulky; my newest is tiny enough to slip into my coin pocket. I gave up my turntable for a CD player and worship my microwave oven, and I'd never go back to ancient cameras with film to develop.

Way back in the Dark Ages, the company I worked for decided to revolutionize -- computerize -- its accounting department and recruited employees willing to learn keypunch and computer operation. I was one of the first to sign up -- and one of only two females. I left that job to have a baby, but retained everything I had learned. In my next job, high-tech meant electric typewriters, but when one of the partners bought a behemoth IBM word processer, I was the only one in the office who volunteered to learn how to use it. It was quite a long while after that before word processers for home use became available, but as soon as they did, I had one. And after that, it was a constant race to upgrade with each new advance in technology.

I got my first actual computer around 1989 or 1990, somewhere in there, and it was a primitive thing. DOS, for God's sake. It had a basic word processing package and generic spreadsheet software, and that was about it. Soon, however, I heard about that thing called the Internet and knew I wanted in on that. My next computer wasn't much more technologically advanced than the last one but, by cracky, it had a modem and allowed me to start playing around with Prodigy and Compuserve. What a marvel! By the time PCs could actually perform minor miracles and ISPs were popping up all over the place, I was ready. My first decent computer was, I think, an HP, followed by a Compaq, and then another HP. By that time, I'd discovered laptops and have had three Compaqs, a Dell, an IBM Thinkpad, a Toshiba, and an Acer. I wore out one of the Compaqs and killed one with a cup of coffee spilled on the keyboard. The IBM always sucked and I gave it away. All in all, I have to say the Dell and the Toshiba have been the top performers. The Acer is good, but that's the one cursed by Vista.

Anyway... I just got to thinking about how far technology has come in my lifetime and how lucky I've been to be able comprehend enough of it to take advantage of it.

TWISTED LINGUISTICS is taking advantage of these wayward Words Gone Wild.

thought-porvoking - Thinking about provoking porcines with sticks.

backuped database - An irretrievably corrupted database.

lynchpin - A little metal thingy with which you can do an emergency patch job to the hangman's noose.

curavacious females - Bodacious women drunk on tequila and curare.

curuios - What said women are while under the influence.

I thrive to show - I'm really striving to show a definition here, but I got nothing.

alimanates dumping - Somehow, I think this has more to do with bodily functions than writing.

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