Technology Autobiography

During my childhood technology as I knew it was stable. We had a black and white TV, rotary telephone phone, and a record player. It stayed like that for what seemed like forever (in childhood memory years that is).

My parents got their first television the year I was born. It was a huge black and white with limited channels. It was a staple in our lives. I loved watching the old movies and daytime soaps when I was sick, and I never missed an episode of Little House on the Prairie at night. The “Wonderful World of Disney” on Sundays night became an anticipated family weekly event and fond memory. From the start, my parents limited our access; “No television before homework is done.” was the nightly battle cry.

The one phone, in our house was hung on the wall in the kitchen next to the basement door. The whole family knew who called you and how long you talked. Getting calling/talk time became a competitive enterprise when four of us reach the teenage years close behind each other. We would drag the phone cord to its full length and head down the basement steps and close the door behind us for privacy. When anyone thought you had talked too long they’d bang on the door. My father had a more subtle approach. He would simply pull down the receiver and hang up the call.

We listened to music on a large, cumbersome record player that always stayed in one spot. From my earliest memory, my parents who were a big band music buffs, had stacks off records. As we became teenagers, we started our own collection of singles and albums of our favorite bands.  

But it all changed rapidly. I am pretty sure it started when we replaced the black and white with a color TV. We thought we had arrived. How could we have imaged the huge, flat screen TV that now hangs on the wall occupying less space than that old black and white TV. I’m still wondering how it could have speed up and changed so rapidly in such a short time. As one thing leads to another, there is no sign of stopping.

By the time I was in my 20’s, I was working at my first job using a computer on a daily basis. In my 30’s I was monitoring my infants on a baby monitor, taking pictures of them with a camcorder, and using a cordless phone and  had purchased our first home computer. The record player had been replaced with boom boxes and CD’s.  So it has continued until present and every member of the family has a cell phone, personal computer, digital camera, and iPod. They would not dream of being without anyone of their devices or unhooking for any length of time.   

In spite of all these devices, I do not at all feel technologically literate. I marvel at my own children who have grown up with this technology and use it more freely and skillfully in their lives. I feel as though I am in a continued state of replacing devices and relearning how to use new ones that have just enough difference to created frustration. At times, I can’t help feeling a bit saturated. Yet, I recognize how much technology has made some aspects of my life easier. I also think that it can have great value in education if used wisely. So I keep on trying and getting a little, more savvy with each new technology I take on. I expect that in the future, the more practical, easy to learn and useful a technology is will determine how I will deal with this constant change.