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Back To The Future

 Chappell Russell

IDS 3250 sec. 101

Dr. Stanovsky

September 22, 2011

First Web Writing Assignment

    Back To The Future

            The first encounter I had with a computer was in 1995. Only being born in 1991, I was around the age of five when I came across the new technology. Computers were still in the developing process and at the time, were large masses of machinery with wires and plugs coming out of every end. The monitors were glass bubbled screens attached to 50 pounds of plastic. The actual computer was a large standing structure that would make loud fan noises. My family’s computer happened to be a tan colored plastic accompanied by a tan mouse, keyboard and, what I call a floppy disk drive.

            Our computer stood in its own corner nook of our first house. I was not allowed to touch it without parental permission. For a five-year-old child, that was a hard thing to do when it had all those fun buttons to push and click. The dial-up noise is still a noise I recognize to this day.

On weekends out shopping with the family I was allowed to get one special toy of my choice. However, unlike most five and six year-old children wanting to buy fire trucks and baby dolls, I wanted to buy computer games. I had acquired several computer discs with simple kid games like Barbie’s Fashion Designing and other educational interactive games that taught reading and math. I was fascinated that I could pick out doll clothes on a screen and print them out. And even though the concept was new to a young girl, like anything would be, it was also new to everyone else in the world.

We moved into my new house in 1996. Computers were still evolving and becoming smaller and more compact. Something even more exciting than Barbie’s Fashion Designing came out that would take computers to the next level; the laptop. My dad brought home an HP Pavilion computer. It did everything our last computer did but it was portable. My family would take trips to the beach and bring the computer. We would set it up in the backseat of the car and watch movies on it.

I soon became attached to the laptop and begged for a computer of my own. I learned how to use draw in the program Paint. I would write in the program Notebook. I had even moved on to more interactive games like Sims and Nancy Drew Mysteries. I had fallen in love with the new age technology.

A few years later for Christmas, my sister and I were given two flat screen HP desktop computers. To have a computer was one thing, but to have a flat screen was, what I considered, the best Christmas present I had ever been given. I soon became familiar with the Internet. I made myself an email address on American Online or also known as AOL. I learned how to chat online with my friends through America Instant Messenger with a “screen name”, found the wonders of Google to be helpful with anything I needed to learn about and of course, I was sucked in to the social networking of Myspace.

I had become an avid computer wiz. I could listen to music, search the web, chat with friends and anything else. However, the flat screen HP soon become over loaded with all the nonsense that was downloaded on the computer. There was only so much I could do to keep from getting pop-ups and having viruses. The HP’s hard drive blew up and I was left computer-less.

Feeling disconnected to the world, I knew I had to get a new computer. There had been so many updates from my last computer that I had an array of technology to choose from. Stepping away from the average PC, I decided to test myself into something new and exciting, a Mac. I invested in a 15 inch white, 2005 MacBook. I had always been interested in the arts and heard that this computer would be best for the field of humanities. It had the capabilities to avoid viruses and I was most excited about the built in camera that would allow me to video chat with my friends.

In relation to the readings discussed in class, I would say that my situation relates more towards Hawthorne’s ideas. I like the classics, such as Macintosh, but I like the advanced classics. What makes Macintosh Apple computers a classic, is that they have survived decades of evolution and are the highest grossing technological company to this day. They have evolved with the time, such as Hawthorne discusses the wood stove in the beginning and what evolved from the wood stove. Though my focus is towards the evolution of technology and how it has developed and will continue to outshine the next generation, I believe that there will always be traditional technology that stay for many years to use without much advancement towards it.

Word Count: 840

           

             

First Writing Assignment - IDS

The first encounter I had with a computer was in the early 90s. Only being born in 1991, I was very young when I came across the new technology. Computers were still in the works in the developing process and at the time, were large masses of machinery with wires and plugs coming out of every end. The monitors were glass bubbled screens attached to 50 pounds of plastic. The actual computer was a large standing structure that would make loud fan noises. My family’s computer happened to be a tan colored plastic accompanied by a tan mouse, keyboard and, what I call a floppy disk drive.

            I was around the age of five or six when my family bought the computer. It stood in it’s own corner nook of our first house. I was not allowed to touch it without parental permission. For a five-year-old child, that was a hard thing to do when it had all those fun buttons to push and click. The dial-up noise is still a noise I recognize to this day.

On weekends out shopping with the family I was allowed to get one special toy of my choice. However, unlike most five and six year-old children wanting to buy fire trucks and baby dolls, I wanted to buy computer games. I had acquired several computer discs with simple games like Barbie’s Fashion Designing and other educational interacting games. I was fascinated that I could pick out doll clothes on a screen and print them out. And even though the concept was new to a young girl, like anything would be, it was also new to everyone else in the world.

We moved into my new house in 1996. Computers were still evolving and becoming smaller and more compact. Something even more exciting than Barbie’s Fashion Designing came out that would take computers to the next level; the laptop. My dad brought home an HP Pavilion computer. It did everything our last computer did but it was portable. My family would take trips to the beach and bring the computer. We would set it up in the backseat of the car and watch movies on it.

I soon became attached to the laptop and begged for a computer of my own. I learned how to use draw in the program Paint. I would write in the program Notebook. I had even moved on to more interactive games like Sims and Nancy Drew Mysteries. I had fallen in love with the new age technology.

Sure enough, for Christmas, my sister and I were given two flat screen HP desktop computers. To have a computer was one thing, but to have a flat screen was, what I considered, the best Christmas present I had ever been given. I soon became familiar with the Internet. I made myself an email address on AOL, learned how to chat online with my friends through AIM with a “screen name”, found the wonders of Goggle to be helpful with anything I needed to learn about and of course, I was sucked in to the social networking of Myspace.

I had become an avid computer wiz. I could listen to music, search the web, chat with friends and anything else I could dream of. However, the flat screen HP soon become over loaded with all the nonsense that was downloaded on the computer. There was only so much I could do to keep from getting pop-ups and having viruses. The HP’s hard drive blew up and I was left computer.

Feeling disconnected to the world, I knew I had to get a new computer. There had been so many updates from my last computer that I had an array of technology to choose from. Stepping away from the average PC, I decided to test myself into something new and exciting, a Mac. I invested in a 15 inch white, 2005 MacBook. I had always been interested in the arts and heard that this computer would be best for the field of humanities. It had the capabilities to avoid viruses and I was most excited about the built in camera that would allow me to video chat with my friends.

In relation to the readings discussed in class, I would say that my situation relates more towards Hawthorne’s ideas. I like the classics, such as Macintosh, but I like the advanced classics. What makes Macintosh Apple computers a classic, is that they have survived decades of evolution and are the highest grossing technological company to this day. They have evolved with the time, such as Hawthorne discusses the wood stove in the beginning and what evolved from the wood stove.

Word Count: 794