Hang on...here we go around again!

Today I complete another circuit around the sun...my 45th said trip.

It's so hard to grasp that I'm quickly closing in on half a century of existence. Granted I don't remember a great deal about the first 5 or so years, but my capacity meter still shows a lot of data stored in the old melon-sized hard drive I call a head. The true question would be is the drive over half full or is there still lots of room for more data? I am an older model you know but adequately equipped for upgrades...

If you'd be so kind as to indulge a brief stroll down the proverbial memory lane...let's look specifically at technology in my lifetime.

I graduated high school in 1982 from a school that still used carbon paper to make copies. The brand new Xerox copy machine the school purchased was too expensive (and technical) for teachers to make bulk copies.

The very first computer I used for practical application (and I say that loosely) was an IBM System 36 Model 5360 while in my first year at Vanderbilt University. The class I was taking was Computer Programming...which used Pascal, a structured programming language. The computer weighed over 700 pounds and had to be kept in a temperature controlled room. A dozen terminals were outside the room for student use/abuse.

Upon checking into my first duty station after being commissioned as a US Marine officer, I was issued a Sharp PC-5000 laptop computer... before I was issued my sidearm (which then was the Colt .45). It was part of the 'new Marine Corps' which can easily be translated to 'let's see if we can bog down the normally nimble Marines with bureaucratic red tape requirements too.' The Sharp PC-5000 is not recommended as a hand-to-hand combat weapon...

As the Classified Materials Custodian for my command (a collateral duty that had federal prison consequences attached if you messed up), I was responsible for, among other things, the secure holding and issue of the command's GPS devices...Garmin under guard basically. They were classified as Top Secret issues...

The only ways to communicate with family back home from my duty station in Hawaii was 25 cents a letter or 42 cents a minute on the phone. No email, no instant messaging, no free mobile to mobile or friends in a calling circle, no video conferencing, no fax machines and no text messaging. I'm sure all of the Y-generation readers are now convulsing in complete incomprehension...

I 'rented' my first cell phone in 1992 for business use in my first post-Corps civilian job. A Motorola 'bag phone' was the only option. This was also the phone I used when I began working part-time broadcasting high school sports for a local radio station. Setting up to broadcast then required a table for the phone, power adapter (and source), mixing board and research materials. Today, I can broadcast from the bleachers with just a laptop and headset if necessary... and it sounds 1000% better.



Speaking of radio, commercials were recorded on a tabletop reel-to-reel recorder for sound quality. Messed up? Back up the tape and try again. Went 32 seconds on a 30 second spot (which was timed with a stop watch)? Edit copy, back up and try again. Now, I record my promo's on my home or laptop computer, edit for time through compression, take out any deep breaths by digital edit, make my voice sound a little deeper, and email the spot in an mp3 for airing. A spot can literally be on air within a few minutes of emailing. Wish compression editing worked on waistlines....

Just a very few examples of changes my years have seen in the area of technology. I think most people my age appreciate the devices and medias we have today because we've lived without them. Either that or we stick our heads in the sand and pretend the world is the same as it was when Ronald Reagan was elected President...the first time.

Ahhhh...the good old Reagan years...where did they go...