My family got an Apple IIe when I was only 5 years old. The local high school in my middle class suburbia was still using typewriters, and a special computing lab opened after we had our own computer. Of course, the school had more software, but they purchased the same type of computers. We were the only people we knew who had a PC at home for awhile after that, maybe one or two years. I still remember my first grade class when I turned in an assignment typed. Many students gathered around me just to see what it looked like. The dotty text that came out of the early printers indicated this was from a computer, and many eyes widened in awe. After that the teacher asked me to write my assignments just like the rest of the class. I am sure she was fascinated by this latest technology that I showed in the classroom, but the disruption outweighed the benefits - especially to a first grader.

 

My mother contributed most to my technological literacy. She believed computers were going to become a critical part of our daily lives, and she was right. Computers have permeated the space that surrounds us. Other parents tried to keep their children from playing Super Mario Brothers and Mega Man, but my mother was the first in the store. It is ironic that, in the late 1980's, scientists found that video games improve hand-eye coordination. There is such a thing as too much game playing, but a little does no damage.

These early influences keep me on the cutting edge of computers. I expect computers to be as fast as the Ferraris often used to advertise them. Unless you go for the best, you generally end up with the Ford or Chevy of computers. First time computer buyers are fascinated by what they can do, but they are not intelligent enough to buy the right system that will continue to fascinate them in the future. Two years from now that machine will not meet even the minimum requirements of the latest game. It is not because technology has changed too much, but because the buyer was behind the times when he left the store. A mother of a friend's friend (got that?!) talked to me about the great information she had researched. Her information was unimportant to me, since I directly told her what to buy regardless of what she had read or heard. A month later a friend helped her get a "great deal through a friend on the latest system." It was such a great deal that she paid $400 more than I would, and it did not contain the right parts to get her through next year's advancements. Fifteen years of experience, and some people still don't listen to me when I tell them what to buy.