Crazy person that I am, I drug myself and Mike out of bed at 2:45 am to watch the lunar eclipse. It was fascinating watching the moon “disappear” and I could understand how that would have been unnerving in ancient times - not knowing why it was happening and if the moon would ever show up again. Now scientists can not only tell us exactly why it happens and what time the lunar eclipse will occur in every time zone, but when the next one will happen as well (Feb 21).

It got me thinking about how much technology influences our lives, which took me on a technological trip down memory lane…

I got my first computer circa 1987. It was a TRS-80. And yes, there was an internet back then, albeit a rather primitive one compared to what we have today. The precursors to forums were the BBSes which you dialed directly modem to modem (so they were only accessible when the other person’s computer was on and attached to the modem and usually only one person at a time could be connected, so you often got busy signals when you tried to connect), but since you had to use a dial-up modem, you could really only visit local BBSes (unless you wanted to pay long distance charges, of course). And more often than not, the SysOp would be online and might be willing to chat with you (yep, the precursor to your favorite instant messaging system). I ended up giving the computer back to the person I was buying it from (for reasons which I will not detail here) and I was done with computers for a few years. But yes, I was a computer geek 20 years ago. Top that. ;)

The next computer in my life was a Macintosh SE/30 which cost us around $2000 used and had a 40 MB hard drive. Yes, MEGABYTE. How on earth did we survive on megabytes??? We got that around 1992 or so I think. Then we upgraded to a PowerMac something (which still works believe it or not) and then to a second(?)-generation grape iMac (which died this year), then to an eMac (which is still in use) and finally to my pretty little iBook G4 laptop - without which I may have lost my mind. We’re planning on upgrading to the new iMac (with a 1 TB hard drive) as soon as we have some $$ to do it. We also have a PC that we use occasionally and on which I was an internet DJ for awhile. Ah, memories.

Oh, and here I should mention IRC or Internet Relay Chat which was basically a bunch of chat rooms (or channels) on which you could group chat and private message. It was on one of those channels that I first “met” Mr. Syndromes.

Now let’s talk cell phones. I got my first cell phone circa 1996 which was well before cell phones became de rigeuer. In fact, I was told by a “frienemy” in my favorite IRC channel that “teachers didn’t need cell phones” and it was ridiculous that I was getting one. It makes me laugh now because whether I needed one or not, I was definitely on the cutting edge of technology back then…lol! And nowadays, the average 12 or 13 year old has a cell phone. So whatever. ;) But the best thing was when Mike got his own cell phone. He has never worked in a job where I could just pick up the phone and call him at work, so it was always frustrating for me when I needed to communicate with him. He did have a pager at one point, and we had an elaborate numerical code system set up, but it was still a pain. So, it was definitely a happy day when he got his cell phone and I could call him and leave a message or send him a text or whatever.

Next came the digital camera. Right at this moment, I have well over 12,000 photos on my laptop. In my entire life before the digital camera, I’m sure I didn’t take even close to that many pictures. Digital cameras have certainly changed the world, and the digital camera got me interested in photography, so that in itself is something that I’m thankful for.

And last, but certainly not least, is the DVR. I was a latecomer to the Tivo/DVR world, but I am a total convert. Not only is it easier to program, there is more space and it’s so. much. easier. to use than a VCR. I will never EVER go back…lol!

And so ends my trip down technological memory lane. Feel free to post your own trip - I’d love to hear your stories! But now I’m curious…had any of you ever heard of BBSes or IRC before I mentioned them in this post, or am I the geekiest person I know? ;)