I don’t remember a lot about my early computers. What I do remember was that my first computer experience began with a big, clunky computer. That computer was loud and had limited functions. It used floppy disks and we used a huge dot matrix printer for printing. The next one I remember was hooked to a mainframe system and it was used for data processing. I worked in an industry that we had to create and print airway bills of lading. Each bill of lading had 8 carbon copies and came with an air bill number already printed on it. The computer made the data processing much easier, since we were able to enter the “correct” information before it was printed. When the computers were down, we had to do the same work on typewriters. Needless to say it took much longer to do, as well as many mistakes were made. Even then it was amazing how quickly we relied on computers.
Then I got a personal computer both at work and at home. With both computers I had the capability to save to floppy and hard disks, however, they both used DOS operating systems. My first home computer was a HP 360, and the reason I bought my first computer was to do work at home. I liked having the ability to leave work at a respectable time, and then continuing with my work later that same night in the convenience of my own home. It wasn’t until years later and another job, that I had a computer that had Windows. When I first used Windows I couldn’t believe the difference. I no longer had to type in the commands; instead it was just a few clicks with the mouse.
After Windows came the internet. Having access to the Internet was and still is interesting in the workplace. When the Internet was first being introduced in my office I had access because I was a manager. At that time it was limited access, but over time that changed. Some things about the Internet made my job easier, but other things about it made it more difficult. It was nice to able to find information relatively easy, however, it made “managing” more difficult. Since we can now do everything on the Internet, it made managing more challenging. The more we can do on the Internet, the more we do; however, due to the Internet much more “personal” business happens daily in the business setting. People spend more time at work communicating with family and friends, shopping, downloading music, etc.
Today I own my third personal computer, a laptop. I primarily use my laptop to do work or email. I really don’t spend a lot of “my time” on the computer. I might go weeks or longer without even checking email, which was before this graduate program. In many ways in my personal life I’m old school when it comes to technology. I’m not a gamer, I don’t shop or bank online, just to name a few. However, I do like that I can email family and friends anytime of the day that I want, and the online chatting is starting to grow on me.
I like that technology in many ways has made daily tasks easier. I use more technology at work than I do in my personal life and for this reason sometimes I find it difficult to keep up with the latest technology. I don’t enjoy spending hours sitting in front of a computer at home.
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