Technology Autobiography

I was born on October 11, 1965; so to say the least, technology has made unthinkable leaps and bounds! My earliest memory of technology in the late 60”s/early 70”s was probably the rotary phone with a cord long enough to reach across two rooms or make a noose. Even with a busy household of eight people, we NEVER misplaced it! There was no redial or caller I.D., just a simple contraption with a round dial: easy! I remember watching old movies and shows like Happy Days, Patty Duke, and many after school specials on an old and very large, fuzzy pictured television with manual dials and no remote, therefore we had to get up to change the channel. I guess it is a good thing we only had a few channels to choose from, unless you were well off enough to get cable. In that case, you could get about a whopping 10, WOW!

I also have many fond memories playing Beatles and many other vinyl records repeatedly (while I choreographed silly dances in my dining room) on a record player similar to this one and as big as my dining room wine server.

In addition, my mother used to make us chocolate ice cream frappes using an old metal frappe machine…yum!

When I was a teenager in the 7o’s, the best kitchen gadget ever joined our bare kitchen, was the wonderful microwave. I was terrified of that thing, as I envisioned it exploding. At that time as well, I reveled in the fact that I had a small black tape recorder of my own. I used many tapes to record everything I could think of...recording anonymously was not illegal and actually, quite fun!

In the late 70’s/early 80’s, cell phones as big as my head were becoming a part of a few people’s lives, definitely not mine! They were fascinating and weird at the same time.

Then in 1985, I had my first experience with an Apple iie computer here at Gordon College and programmed the mouse to make a square on the screen. It was very exciting to be at college and to know that I could actually boot up a computer! This was the only time I ever felt technologically literate.

Later in the 80’s I received a cassette player with bigger speakers from my brother. I used it until it died about 8 years ago. OLD TECHNOLOGY LASTED! I also got my hands on a Sony Walkman; a battery operated static sounding radio with headphones to take along for walks. Soon after, I got a Sony cassette tape player walkman: very cool…and easy to operate.

In 1994, my newlywed husband and I got our first personal home computer. I barely touched it.

I had my first cell phone in 1995, and it was a small Audiovox that simply made calls, that was it! Easy!

In early 2000, I got a second hand Discman to replace my Sony walkman. It skipped music often while I “skipped” down the street.

Finally, in 2007 and 2008 my husband insisted on getting me a laptop to assist with teaching, followed by an HTC smart phone for scheduling. WOW, I have never felt so technologically illiterate, which means to me that even with the plethora of information I have learned so far, I still have beyond too much to learn and even more to catch up!