In The Beginning...a Commodore!

Technology literacy is a vital part of being fluent in the world of information. We are bombarded every day with more and more and more information. Sometimes it seems overwhelming and sometimes it is a wonderful gift—really depends on my personal mood that day.

When it comes to technology and the information age I entered kicking and screaming, much as my parents said I entered the real world. I have always wanted to stay on the all important “cutting edge” of what is new and exciting in the world so when I was in college I enrolled in a computer class. The class taught us how to punch holes in cards (key punch machines) and use them to store and retrieve information. That was it. The cost of the cards was astronomical for most companies and the machine that punched and read the cards was cost prohibitive. Wow, I really feel old just typing those lines.

Our professor took us on a field trip to the Human Resources section of the local Social Security Administration in this central GA city. The facility was the size of the UCF Teaching Academy building and one half of the building contained the computers that kept the government operating (according to our tour guide). Each computer was the size of a car standing up from bumper to bumper. They contained huge rolls of tape with all kinds of important and personal information on US citizens. To keep the machines operating correctly the rooms were freezing cold. I was amazed and a little bit frightened. Amazed at the power of the computers and what they could do for us and frightened by the power of the computers and what they “knew” about us.

Not long after completing my Master’s degree I purchased my own computer: a Commodore 64. This was an 8-bit home computer, released in 1982, costing $595 each. The Commodore 64 was the “cutting edge” technology of its time. I was excited! I had no clue how to use the thing but it looked good in my office at home. I was teaching at three colleges (all part time) and knew the Commodore 64 was going to make my life much easier. It did. I learned to do word processing and found the fascinating world of computer games. I was hooked.

One of the colleges where I was teaching was a private school in Atlanta. They asked me to teach a new computer class since I was the only person on faculty who actually owned my own computer. I agreed and they ordered a room full of Apple computers. Apple introduced the PowerBook in 1991, which established the modern form and ergonomic layout of the laptop computer. The same year, Apple introduced System 7, a major upgrade to the operating system which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. Did I fail to mention that the original computer in my life was black and white (actually black and gray)? I was in heaven. Now I had a powerful computer that students could use to type their own papers and I no longer had to read bad handwriting! For the first few years that was about as good as it got.

Over time the computers changed and more and more people got them in their homes. Computers now did more than just word processing and saving your materials. Now, you could cut and paste! Probably doesn’t sound very exciting to you but it was great for a teacher who was tired of making up tests over and over and having to start from scratch every time you taught a class. Then I became complacent. I moved from classroom instruction to academic administration and didn’t stay on top of the developments in the world of computers. I liked WordPerfect 4.2 and saw no need to learn anything else. I was happy in my world.

My world changed. For a few years my instructors had told me of the new company, Microsoft, who had great new products. They told me I needed to learn the new products and keep up with the times. I saw no value in that; besides Word 5.1 was doing a good job for me. Then it happened, the powers that be decided when we built the new administration building for the college we would go to an all Microsoft format. No more Word Perfect for me. I quickly changed my attitude from complacent to “must know everything.” I took classes (of course, they were free for me), cornered my computer science instructors and kept them hostage in my office, and learned Microsoft (at least enough to function). Wow, I really feel like I was in the beginning...you know, with God and dirt and light. But it really wasn't all that long ago when we were still using punch cards.