The People's History of Caleb and Computers

My very first memory of interacting with a PC has to be from about the age of five or six. My granddad was an engineer, so he had lots of gadgets and computers. I believe he was running MS Dos with early versions of AutoCAD and whatever else engineers had, but I just liked to play his floppy disk version of Jeopardy.

I began actually learning about how to operate and type when I was in elementary school. We were assigned a certain amount of typing to do, while our hands were covered by this wooden contraption, so that we might grow up knowing how to type without looking at our hands. This did not work well for me, because I cheated. By finishing our assignment, we were rewarded the rest of time in class to play whatever game we wanted to play. So, I glanced under the wooden thing every now and then so that I could get done early. This is why I am still quite slow at typing today I imagine. After I was finished with my assignment, I would play one of three things: “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego”, “Bricks”, or I would draw aliens on “Paint”. I feel a bit of nostalgia just thinking about it. I hated typing, but I would have done anything at that point in my life just to get to the fifth level of “Bricks”.

At some point in my life, (probably 9 or 10) I graduated to surfing the internet at my best friend’s house. Although it was dial-up, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever experienced. I began going to my friend’s house, not to hang out with them, but to walk straight to the computer so that I could see who was in the chat room. (My parents never bothered to get the internet for me, because my best friend’s house was conveniently located three houses down the street.)

Then, the most pivotal moment of my computer history began a short time after, on the same friend’s computer. We heard about Napster, and Kazaa, and torrents. By this time my friend had gotten a cable connection and a CD burner. I got every album that I possibly could. We downloaded skateboarding and music videos like it were going out of style.

I guess I really haven’t grown much when it comes to using computers and the internet to my advantage. I am still just wasting a lot of my time on sites just watching videos and listening to music.

Most of my memories of early experiences with computers are fond ones. I have became angry or frustrated a few times, and those moments most likely had something to do with homework, which in itself, makes me frustrated and angry. I think I have learned a lot over time and have improved my computer skills significantly over the years. Now, I just need to figure out how to make a website that will make me millions of dollars.