Our first family computer was actually for business use. Dad bought it in the mid-nineties after starting the family engineering company when he was laid off at IR in 1993. We converted the basement playroom into my Dad's first office. The room was large, but rather cave-like. There were no windows except for the sliding glass door that led onto the downstairs porch and backyard. The overhead room lighting was florescent and we used a wood-stove for heat in the winter months. "In those days," there was no computer-aided design (CAD) software for mechanical engineers, so my father bought a big green drafting board.
The computer was used mainly for bookkeeping and administrative duties. However, once Dad and Mom were finished with their business tasks, they would let my brothers and me play on it. One of the first computer games we ever had was Clyde. It was this little old man that had to navigate through an obstacle course to collect the appropriate number of gems. There was sound, but it only came out of the small computer speakers. It was rather pathetic compared to today's technology, but I remember my brothers and I being so excited about the new "high-tech toy!"
Once the family business became more established in 1995, my father got another phone line and that was when we got internet. The first phone company we used was Bell Atlantic and the first email provider was Juno. We chose Juno, because we could have multiple email accounts for free. Forget sending attachments, though. That wasn't even an option "back then." I just remember being so impressed with Juno, because I could change the font and background colors of my email message. I remember the first colors I used was yellow text on a purple background. I was also overjoyed that I could simply backspace to fix spelling errors, instead of using an eraser (which I dislike to this day..it makes me cringe fro some reason).
Even now, there are times when I wish we still had Juno, because that software was very user-friendly. It didn't have a lot of extra, confusing menus or features. This "Friday First" revolutionized the way our family corresponded with the "outside world." Today, checking my email is an ordinary task whereas receiving a letter in the mailbox is the a rare and exciting event. How far our world has come in just the last twenty-five years.
The computer was used mainly for bookkeeping and administrative duties. However, once Dad and Mom were finished with their business tasks, they would let my brothers and me play on it. One of the first computer games we ever had was Clyde. It was this little old man that had to navigate through an obstacle course to collect the appropriate number of gems. There was sound, but it only came out of the small computer speakers. It was rather pathetic compared to today's technology, but I remember my brothers and I being so excited about the new "high-tech toy!"
Once the family business became more established in 1995, my father got another phone line and that was when we got internet. The first phone company we used was Bell Atlantic and the first email provider was Juno. We chose Juno, because we could have multiple email accounts for free. Forget sending attachments, though. That wasn't even an option "back then." I just remember being so impressed with Juno, because I could change the font and background colors of my email message. I remember the first colors I used was yellow text on a purple background. I was also overjoyed that I could simply backspace to fix spelling errors, instead of using an eraser (which I dislike to this day..it makes me cringe fro some reason).
Even now, there are times when I wish we still had Juno, because that software was very user-friendly. It didn't have a lot of extra, confusing menus or features. This "Friday First" revolutionized the way our family corresponded with the "outside world." Today, checking my email is an ordinary task whereas receiving a letter in the mailbox is the a rare and exciting event. How far our world has come in just the last twenty-five years.
