A trip down Memory Lane

Today's lecture was on the history of the computer and the internet. Having attended a number of IT courses, I have heard most of this before. But I am always on the lookout for what I don't know. I was interested to get a little more detail on Bill Gates vs the two Steves. I have watched, with interest, the developements of both the Mac and PC. To be honest, I have never used a Mac. My son, Brendon, is now in year 9 and has a passion for graphics and design. He also has an incredibly mathematical mind. (no idea what so ever where he gets that from!!) In grade 6, his school purchased a number of iMacs for the students and teachers use. Luckily his teacher was already an avid Mac user and taught the class how to use it. Brendon and one other student seemed to have a natural aptitude for this and were eventually given the task of teaching the other staff members how to use them. He is about to enter grade 10 and has enrolled in both graphics and film and TV studies. We are now considering purchasing an iMac for him as this is the prime tool used in both subjects. Hello APPLE here we come!

Anyway, back to the lecture...

I found the youtube clip on helpdesk very funny. I can so relate to this from both sides. In my early days of computers, I spent a lot of time hanging on the phone waiting for helpdesk people to walk me thru the 'new' program. This mainly relates to industry software. I was often very frustrated that the 'helpful' people could not (or possible would not) use common language to explain the problem or help me fix it. Years later, running my own computer training centre, I often found myself on the helpdesk side and again very frustrated that the plebs couldn't (or wouldn't) understand the instructions that I was giving. I was always very mindful of jargon and would try very hard to use as simple and straight forward language as possible. Maybe it isn't ONLY the language, but the medium we are using that confuses the message? Hmmmm!

The youtube clip on Apple Guy vs PC Guy was also quite delightful. My husband and I have always enjoyed these ads and had a giggle. We have three PCs and 2 laptops in our house and NO Macs. But as previously stated we may be in the market for a Mac very soon. Given this we still enjoy and fully connect with the (not so subtle) message that these ads are giving.

Another issue raised that really interested me was in regards to software ownership. Good old Bill Gates had an early awakening into the value of IP. I searched out the letter from Mr Gates to the hobbyist group and thought I might add it here for your reference. http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V2_01/gatesletter.html
This issue of licenced software and copyright etc has been an irritant to me in a business sense for sometime. As the owner of a computer training centre, I ran over 30 PCs all of which had to have multiple operating systems to enable us to teach on the particular version of Windows that our client was running. This meant that we needed multiple user licences for both '98 and XP. Sure we had access to the MS Certified Partner Program editions, but these still cost a bomb. I can understand why so many people use pirated copies!

The topic of old video games and the early computer also got me thinking. I remember the funny looking Apples that the schools launched to bring us out of the dark ages and into the world of technology. Their tiny little screens were so cute. I also remember the space invaders tables in all the cafes. I loved that game and thought it was great when my husband found an updated version that runs on XP. But I really couldn't remember any home video games. So I went exploring. I found some stuff on Wiki then had a laugh at some peoples stories on another site. Have a look and take a trip down memory lane!

Looking forward to more of this to come...

Lee