Home Computers

Before we had a microwave -- before we had a VCR -- my father purchased VIC computers.  There was one before the VIC Commodore 64, but I do not remember what it was. 

The green cursor on the screen blinked impatiently while I tried to understand and learn BASIC programming language.  How this could be any man's hobby was beyond me. 

In high school, before "the internet" was available to everyday people, I used my father's computer for word processing.  Having learned to type in junior high, it was faster than composing papers by hand -- especially when it came to using footnotes.  The research was done at the college library.  My whole family would go there like other families would go to the movies.  I used the card catalog and microfiche to gather information and take notes.  When we returned home, I took my turn on the family computer.

I had filled one floppy disk with things I no longer wanted.  I asked my father how I could delete everything on the disk -- freeing it up for my new writings.  

He wrote these directions on a scrap of paper: del*.*

What he forgot to write down was the a: designation so that the computer knew to delete (del) everything (*.*) on the disk in the a drive.  

I deleted everything on the hard drive.

I've never been afraid of technology.  I enjoy the technologies I have access to. I read MacRumors and impatiently wait for the iPhone 6 to come out.  I learned to use a cloud to back up my computer: after the great hard drive crash of 2003.  I Facebook.  I Tweet.  I have a Tumblr blog that I never use.  My goal this summer is to make my cat an internet star.  (You can follow him on Twitter: @blackittyEdgar.)

I use my personal FB and Twitter accounts to participate in political activities around public education.  I use GoDaddy to build my own sites because I like flexibility to make it look and function exactly the way I want it to.  (Edgar's site will be published shortly.)  I use any software that starts with the beloved i and recently got my husband turned on to Keynote.  

My most recent technology challenge has been teaching my mother to use her iPhone.  We bought her an iPad for her 60th birthday (first generation iPad -- 5 years ago).  Then we bought her an iPhone 5 for her 64th birthday.  Her phone is attached to her like she is 15.  She uses her iPad more than I use mine.  Every time I ask a question, just thinking out loud in the course of normal conversation, she Googles the answer.  She is on Facebook too and recently started a Twitter account.  

We are a connected family.