Monday, October 15, 2012

Welcome. You've Got Mail.

I can vividly remember the day my mom told me I was getting a computer.  I was in the sixth grade and had just gotten off the bus at home; I sat down on the couch next to her and listened to her finish up a phone call.  After she hung up she told me that she had just ordered us a computer--I was ecstatic.  A few days later, the computer arrived and I was tasked with setting it all up.  Yes, me, a sixth grader just learning how to type.  I happily pulled everything out of the box: the large tower, the CRT monitor, the wires and cords of the mouse & keys and began matching the colors and plugs.  It took a lot of time and determination, but I finished and turned it on.  It successfully powered up and while we didn't have dial-up internet access, we did have paint, solitaire and minesweep.  I sat there for hours that night playing games and drawing pictures with the mouse.

I honestly am not sure why I remember this so vividly.  Maybe it was because the computer has played such an intregal part in both my personal life and my education that I can't image what life was like before microsoft office and Google or maybe it was because all my friends were getting computers and I was just happy to get one too.  Either way, the computer has only continued to incorporate itself in the many ways I communicate each day.  From the first e-mail I sent, the first instant message I received or the first text message I painstakingly typed out--my time spent on a computer continues to last a little longer each day.

There are countless ways the computer has made my life easier and made information so readily available to me.  I can't imagine not having the power of Google to help me research a paper, or sending a message and getting an almost instantaneous response.  I realize that we are spoiled in the technologies we have that make our way of life easier, but I look forward for the things to come and I'm sure I'll have many more "firsts" where computers and technology are concerned. 

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