I remember my first awareness of computers. It was 1967. I was 18 years old, and at school at the University of Iowa. The computer took up the space of a whole two story building.
Now, 46 years later, everywhere there are smart phones. And today, I read a prediction that tablets will be the computer of choice. And even my humble cell phone is a kind of computer able to send messages and browse the web.
I also remember the first time I saw a car phone in 1980. A friend was a doctor and needed to be available even when driving. His phone was huge compared to my cell that fits in my relatively small hands. The doctor's wife had a Macintosh, but I didn't have the money to buy one.
It turned out that my first computer was a MAC, and I loved it. I had it for quite a long time - about 15 years.
I searched for a place to take it, and found a group who would take computers for people who really needed them but had no money to buy one. I remember that they had posted what they would or wouldn't take and I figured they wouldn't take mine. But no . . . they were excited to get it even though it needed a lot of attention to spiff it up.
In 2000 I went to work in Olympia, the Capitol of Washington State. We had much faster computers, and people who could fix them.
Most recently I bought an HP all in one -- there is no tower. I'd love to have a MAC, but I don't have that budget. I'd also like to have a tablet. Maybe soon.
I wonder what will come next!
