DocAndersen
Many years ago when I was first starting out, I used to run a bulletin board. A BBS was a dial-in collaboration system that we used heavily before the rise of the internet. I was thinking about that system The other day. In part because I miss the sound of modems. In part because I was looking at an old picture of a Macintosh SE/30. I had a Macintosh SE, SE/30 and an IIci from 1985 to 1991. I got a new Quadra 700, and that was the last Macintosh I owned until 2012.
I do have a MacBook now. I just didn’t for more than 15 years.
I didn’t intend, by the way, to wax nostalgic about my mac days today. I was thinking about the reality of change because of the internet. Two days ago I was looking for a specific part of a projector I have that is a little older. I typed the part number into Google’s search and had the part, as well as three places I could, in fact, buy it from on my screen in less time than it took me to type the part number.
We sometimes forget the amazing reality that search has created. I wonder if it was even possible to explain to a 20-year old what the world before the search was like. You can search inside of video games. You can search on your mobile phone. You can search for minute details or massive blasts of information. You can even search within mapping applications to find gas stations and places for lunch.
Do you remember the world before search?
I haven’t been on a glass bottom boat for over 60 years, and that was on Catalina Island. I not only remember life before the Internet and search, I remember life before television and private land lines.
My memory strecthes back to antenna’s and 4 channels. When I was five we moved from Chicago (12 stations) to Indiana (3 stations). Losing WGN was painful (my beloved Cubs). I couldn’t watch Cubs games other than in the summer for 10 long years.
I was six or seven when our first neighbor got a TV. The only thing on for kids was a puppet show called Beany and Cecil. We’d all gather in that neighbor’s house to watch until our own parents finally got a TV. Shows back then were more variety shows, westerns, and situation comedies. My favorites were Dragnet, Perry Mason, I Love Lucy, and Our Miss Brooks. My parents preferred the westerns, Lawrence Welk, and Hometown Jamboree, which is where Tennessee Ernie Ford got his start.
You didn’t mean to wax nostalgic? Too late! You took me back. It’s been years since I’ve been on a glass bottom boat. Thanks for the memory.
I remember a time when we were on a glass bottom boat once or twice a year. Now, it is as you’ve written, been years.