I grew up in the world before so much technology. We had the party line phone, a TV that only got 5 channels, and I listened to Elvis, The Detroit Wheels, and Herman and the Hermits. I played that music on the old vinyl records. That seems so long ago and I guess it was.
I remember buying my first digital watch in the 1960s. It had red numbers and when I got out in the sunlight I couldn't read what time it was. As they say, "Those were the days my friends, I thought they would never end."
Well they did end and as my years on earth advanced so did my knowledge of technology. I got that first video game Pong. How many remember that game? If that couldn't bore you to death then nothing could. Finally I got the Atari and it was a lot more fun. As advanced as those games were for the time, they are nothing compared to what we have today.
Then the personal computer came along and life became more of a challenge. Wow, the Internet, I could communicate with people around the world. It is amazing now to be able to see a photo of my son and his family living in Okinawa in the blink of an eye. I now have friends that I will never meet but I know them from different states in the US, friends from the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and Russia to name a few countries. It is so nice to see that people living in other countries want the same things in life that I do.
That PC and the Internet has allowed me to write stories that have been published in Our USA Magazine. It has allowed me to get my first novel published. It is now allowing me to contact literary agents in hopes of getting representation to get more novels published.
Everything seemed fine until three days ago. That was when I couldn't send an email, I kept getting server error. I looked at my security program and saw that my computer was at risk. There was no way for me to get rid of the risk message. I contacted the computer security provider and I was connected to an online IT technician.
He deleted many temporary and corrupt files, but couldn't get rid of the risk message on the security program. He couldn't get my email to work so I could send messages. Finally he uninstalled my security program and installed a more updated version. Finally it showed my computer was not at risk and I could finally send emails. Ten hours over two days my IT technician worked on my computer. I was stressed and I'm sure he was stressed. Aren't computers the greatest? That is until your computer gets corrupted and then the headaches begin.
I look back to the 1950s this morning and remember my only concern was what record to play or what station to listen to on my new transistor radio. What station should I look at on TV in black and white? Yes, "Those were the days my friends."
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Ah - you brought back some wonderful memories Larry! When I read the words transistor radio I not only saw it in my mind but I could almost smell it. Computers have made our lives easier but they have also made us lazy (in my opinion). No one wants to go to the library anymore or take a walk. People are spending way too much time in front of the computer all day and not get out and actually talking with people. It sure does have its advantages though and as people I guess we need to know when to use technology and when to put it away for a while. Great post! I'm going outside for a while now!
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