Technology Autobiography

My first recollection of technology in my life was when I was about seven or eight years old. My father bought a movie camera and a screen. We were so excited when he would use the camera, to record my siblings and myself playing, or celebrating holidays. Afterwards, we would sit down together with some popcorn for a "movie night" watching ourselves, laughing, and joking with each other. It was interesting to watch, because back then there was no sound with the movies, so we would adlib as if watching a silent movie. It created some great family memories.

Shortly after this time, my friend purchased the Atari video game called "Pong", which was a black and white screen, simulating a tennis game. This was the excitement of the neighborhood. There was a vertical line on each side of the screen, and a small square, meant to be the ball, would bounce back and forth across the screen. The joystick would allow you to move the line up or down to block the "ball". There were no other visuals to this game. It was actually quite boring to look at, however, this game entertained us for a whole summer! To think that we could play on the television was such an amazing concept.

Following this invention came the cordless phone. People were in awe of a phone that did not hook into a wall and allowed for so much more movement during a conversation. It was not so small, actually, it was almost too big to manage comfortably, but the newness of it made it quite attractive to purchase. In addition to the new type of phone, the dials changed from being rotary dials to a touch-tone format. What a concept, more freedom and quicker service!

As I grew into my teen years, and began to listen to music, the introduction of the Walkman became very popular. We had the ability to go anywhere, or do anything and listen to music, via a cassette, on a battery run mini machine. People were using them when they exercised, drove their car, walked to school, etc. they were so portable (kind of).

Movies were also a big area of technological development during my lifetime. With the invention of the VCR, people were now able to stay home and watch a movie, for a fraction of the cost of taking the whole family to the movie theater. Of course, you could not see a current movie, but for a family who did not have a lot of money, we enjoyed watching the older movies on a Saturday night all together.

From these technological advances, proceeded the CD player, Blue Tooth technology, modern cell phones, DVD players, not only in the home, but also available in automobiles, I Pods, I Phones, Touch Phones, I Pads, Smart Boards, and the internet. The Internet provides information with lightening fast speed at your fingertips any time you want. It allows you to talk to people, and physically see them through Skype, even when they are hundreds of miles away.

Many technological developments have occurred in my lifetime, some of which I have not even mentioned, and there are still more to come. Quicker, better, stronger, more compact forms still waiting to be discovered. What an exciting time! Or is it?