The OLD Monitor

I thought it would be interesting to see the "evolution of computers" in our family by showing the old monitor that I am using to salvage files from my laptop with the broken screen. This is the monitor from our very first computer that we purchased in 1997. If I go back a bit further in my computer experiences, it takes me back into the 80s--although I never owned one of my own until the 90s. I was first introduced to Apple computers in college in the mid 80s. I mastered the basics back then--it was a tiny step up from the electric typewriter that I normally used to write my papers for school. That was about all I used computers for back then--word processing and writing. Even then, I wrote MORE papers using a typewriter than I did on the computer due to lack of availability--sometimes it was easier to go home and type than it was to wait for a turn on the school computers. And those printers back then (dot matrix, I think?)--SLOW SLOW SLOW!! As the 90s approached, I saw people using computers for work, but not many people were using them at home--not my peers, anyway. They were expensive at first, and I was in the group of young, fresh-out-of-college/entry-level career/making no money types. Soon, I was married with children--my husband used computers at work every day but saw no need to have one at home. Then the internet came into play--I began getting very curious about the world wide web. I accessed it through various places in the mid 90s--when in libraries or other people's houses, I began to discover how cool it was to have access to so much information. Then my kids discovered computer games--basic games, yes, but games that could only be played on a computer--which we did not have at the time. FINALLY, in 1997, when my kids were 3 and 5, we purchased our first family computer--the monitor shown above is from that first set up. At first, it was an amazing addition to our household--I used it for email and research, and the kids used it for learning games. That computer lasted us a LONG time--we upgraded the hard drive after about 3 years and added several peripherals to it. Finally, in 2004, it began shorting out. It had lasted us 7 years and had met our needs fairly well. However, when the kids began wanting certain computer games, it was often determined that our old computer was just not fast enough to handle the newer games. It was time for a replacement. That is when I decided that I wanted the convenience of a laptop. So we bought a laptop--it was the family computer for a while. However, we decided that I needed the laptop most of the time and that we still needed a family desktop. So we purchased a Dell desktop with a flat monitor in 2005. After my laptop crashed and had to have the hard drive replaced, I became more protective about it--it was mine--they could use the desktop. Up until recently, I kept the laptop to myself except for letting them occasionally check email or other quick uses. I was worried about them causing problems with it again--and then I go and drop it MYSELF!! At first, I plugged the Dell monitor into my laptop and discovered that I could use it that way--then, I remembered the old monitor sitting in storage. I guess I was waiting to take it to a place that disposes of old technology--now I am glad that I still had it. Now I can use it with my laptop and the rest of my family can use the Dell desktop. My teens got a good laugh about the size of this thing--they had forgotten how huge it was compared to the flat screen on the Dell. It reminds me of our old televisions--all are huge and very heavy--we have yet to upgrade to plasma tvs yet, although we want to do so soon. So now we laugh at old technology--kind of like we laugh at the HUGE cell phones in movies from the early 90s! :) My teens have experienced HUGE changes in technology over their lifetimes so far--and they cannot even imagine a time before having all that they have now! They think MY youth must have been SOOOOO boring with only 3 channels on tv and NO computers, cell phones, or I-pods!! They just don't know how lucky they are to be born into the technology age! :)