It was 1980 something. Between riding my YZ60 and working on it I tapped away at the keypad of my 16k Ti 1000. Then as I graduated to the YZ80 I also moved on the to the commodore 64 which was followed by a 1541D double sided floppy drive, a real Zenith monitor (we didn’t have a TV at the time), and a Okidata 180 printer. I was one of the few to turn my reports in printed out instead of hand written or typed on a typewriter. I then moved on to a KX125 and a Headstart 286 system with a hard drive and a CD drive. It was then that bought my first CD it was AC/DC Back in Black (My mom hated it of course). Next it was on to a 1959 Chevrolet Apache loaded with a 283 ci power pack small block ( 300+ HP). Going fast and girls took the place of the computers.
In 94’ while in the Navy I was chosen to be the TASO (Terminal Area Security Officer) for my department. The duties of the job covered everything: keeping track of hardware, training for the division, software management, database development, template generating for all reports, basically if it had to do with a computer it was my responsibility. To make things worse they didn’t check qualification and at that time I knew very little about Windows and even less about hardware. This meant that I had to give myself a crash course in every part of the PC. I survived and though I thought it was hell then I am glad that I faced the challenge and succeeded.
I thought the ordeal was over in 97’ when I got out of the Navy and started work as a power plant operator. We had only one computer in the control room and it was set up to control a specific process which only require touching on rare occasion. All was well with the world except for that damn PC I had at home. Then it started again slowly but surly my control room became infested with computer of all sorts from Linux based recorders, proprietary systems and many standard PC’s. At last count there are at least 40 individual computers surrounding me and I now have a network of them at home that always has at least 3 attached and sometimes a half dozen or more.
Computers are taking over our world.
I reentered college 4 weeks ago thinking with 15+ years of computer experience and the fact that they continue to surround me I might as well get a computer science degree. Sitting in the required Computer Applications class it amazes me how many people can send an email, use a chat program, play solitaire, or surf the web but, have little or no idea what makes any of it tic. And even more amazing are the people in their teens and early 20’s that couldn’t even find the power button.
Computers are taking over our world but,
Who will take over the maintenance and programming duties in the future? After seeing the debacle in the computer apps class and learning that only 20% of students in the college I’m attending are in the CS and CIS programs it really makes me wonder. Just a guess but I would bet that the average age of Programmers, IT Pros and Hardware Techs is 30 or older and isn’t getting any younger. This reminds me of a poll held on Wicustomize.com where if I remember right the largest percentage of people who voted were 25 or older. Or maybe the kids are like I was and from 16 to 20 something, fast cars and the opposite sex are more important than anything else.