Gone are the scary computers

I remember some ages ago, in my highschool, it was tough to actually use a computer. It was like one computer to roughly around 7-10 students. So you could imagine how one could ever learn the basics. In fact I don’t actually know how or what it is called. It was bulky and the monitor was even resting on the CPU while the printer was still dot matrix.

Whenever I reminisce the days when I was so afraid of computers, I found myself laughing as now I can basically manipulate it without any formal schooling…just plain exploration in minutes is enough to get me going. Before, you had to insert this floppy black disk before you could literally use the computer…aha that was the DOS disk. That disk was even "dangerous" as teachers would tell you not to touch the other area as the files might be erased. Not just that, it was like a crime when you accidentally hit a button and everything disappears. And all fingers pointed back at you because it was your fault for having accidentally done so. It was like all the world fell apart because of that one small mistake. Gone are the days…and let it stay that way.

Only those rich few who had computers then were brave enough to lead the whole group to class activities. I was even  happy then when I could press the "enter" button as the others take turn in press other keys. hahahaha. Everything was theoretical for computers. The first ever computer that I managed to use was just a little more sophisticated that the electronic typewriter!

I thought at that time, the only difference was the monitor and so I preferred to buy the handy typewriter as I loved its sound during its use. Plus not to mention the numerous technical sounding terms of PASCAL, DOS as well as the formulas you had to key in to get what you were looking for. Funny were the moments that I was so illiterate then that I would have alarmed everybody in the student office to evacuate due to that running marque which said "This computer will explode in 30 seconds….30…..29…..20…..15…..10….Bang!!!!"

As I have taught communication technology a couple of years back, my students would laugh at every story I tell about the old, obsolete type of PCs we used then. Now, if you ask me, I don’t want to go back to that pre-historic age.