Technostalgia
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I am way too young to be nostalgic about this. Oh well. :)
I wish I could remember exactly what my first computer was. This one looks the most familiar.
It can't be, though-- I remember using System 6, but I'm pretty sure the first one I had to myself used System 7.
I was no child hacker. I colored folders and found out how to change their icons and add little comments to their "info." I learned keyboard commands. I explored the file system and ran experiments like figuring out the distinction between "aliases" and "duplicates." I made a floorplan of the house with a drawing program, taking measurements by walking around the house with a 12-inch ruler. I methodically explored every possible "system preference" and changed all the default settings to make it really mine.
I was obsessed with a particular tutorial which ran through very basic tasks such as how to write a document and save it. What I liked was that it drew red circles around the actual menu items to show you exactly where to click. I found it so wonderful that I must have played it about a dozen times--more for entertainment than education.
I tried very hard to find the elusive "Desktop folder" and place it on the Desktop.
My dad sometimes took me to work with him. He introduced me to a web browser. I used it to read blogs about people's pet rabbits, possibly because of my obsession with the book Watership Down. I didn't know what a search engine was so I found things by inventing likely URLs and typing them in. I also looked for origami diagrams to fold--until I stumbled across "Origami Underground," a page apparently destined for fans of the more deviant side of papercrafts. I was thereafter more wary of the internet...and picked up the habit of clearing my browser history.
My first use of the command line was the command "date." After showing me, my dad wandered back to his terminal. I typed it over and over until I got bored. Then I tried to invent my own, but couldn't find anything that didn't return something along the lines of error: command not found. And honestly, I couldn't really see the point. I went back to the bunnies.
My dad brought one of these back from work for us to play with.
The "Apple Newton" sounded like a cookie, but I loved it. I systematically tried every feature. It recognized my handwriting and turned roundish squiggles into perfect circles. I didn't have any "contacts," so my sister and I invented phone numbers and addresses for rooms in the house. We tried to send infrared "messages" out her window and were disappointed to find no receivers. I really, really wanted one, but got a Tamagotchi instead.
Later (when I was 13?), I shared one of these with my sister.
It was my baby, but it was slow, and bits of it kept breaking off. It got to the point where the charger would only make contact when held at a particular angle. Unfazed, I carefully taped it to my desk whenever it needed powering and shrieked at anyone who disturbed the arrangement by, say, breathing too loudly.
I wish I could remember exactly what my first computer was. This one looks the most familiar.
It can't be, though-- I remember using System 6, but I'm pretty sure the first one I had to myself used System 7.I was no child hacker. I colored folders and found out how to change their icons and add little comments to their "info." I learned keyboard commands. I explored the file system and ran experiments like figuring out the distinction between "aliases" and "duplicates." I made a floorplan of the house with a drawing program, taking measurements by walking around the house with a 12-inch ruler. I methodically explored every possible "system preference" and changed all the default settings to make it really mine.
I was obsessed with a particular tutorial which ran through very basic tasks such as how to write a document and save it. What I liked was that it drew red circles around the actual menu items to show you exactly where to click. I found it so wonderful that I must have played it about a dozen times--more for entertainment than education.
I tried very hard to find the elusive "Desktop folder" and place it on the Desktop.
My dad sometimes took me to work with him. He introduced me to a web browser. I used it to read blogs about people's pet rabbits, possibly because of my obsession with the book Watership Down. I didn't know what a search engine was so I found things by inventing likely URLs and typing them in. I also looked for origami diagrams to fold--until I stumbled across "Origami Underground," a page apparently destined for fans of the more deviant side of papercrafts. I was thereafter more wary of the internet...and picked up the habit of clearing my browser history.
My first use of the command line was the command "date." After showing me, my dad wandered back to his terminal. I typed it over and over until I got bored. Then I tried to invent my own, but couldn't find anything that didn't return something along the lines of error: command not found. And honestly, I couldn't really see the point. I went back to the bunnies.
My dad brought one of these back from work for us to play with.
The "Apple Newton" sounded like a cookie, but I loved it. I systematically tried every feature. It recognized my handwriting and turned roundish squiggles into perfect circles. I didn't have any "contacts," so my sister and I invented phone numbers and addresses for rooms in the house. We tried to send infrared "messages" out her window and were disappointed to find no receivers. I really, really wanted one, but got a Tamagotchi instead.Later (when I was 13?), I shared one of these with my sister.
It was my baby, but it was slow, and bits of it kept breaking off. It got to the point where the charger would only make contact when held at a particular angle. Unfazed, I carefully taped it to my desk whenever it needed powering and shrieked at anyone who disturbed the arrangement by, say, breathing too loudly.
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