Technology and Innovation Meme

From a scholarly mommy who got it here...

1. Do you remember when you saw your first computer? When did you actually use one? What about having your own? Do you own a laptop? (PC or Mac?) Have you gone wireless at home yet?
My uncle, who is the tech man in my family, gave us our first computer when I was a kid during the 80s. It was an Apple 2e with the green screen and the "big" floppy disk (with a dot matrix printer). So I've been using a computer probably since late elementary school. I had very early exposure to computer programming and computer design as my uncle would always explain different things to me. My mom purchased our first PC (desktop) when I was in high school (1995?) and I took that to college although it was utterly obselete by the time I left. Now I'm on my second Dell laptop (the first one was a loaner) and my home is wireless. I miss having desktop--my new school is giving me another laptop--so I will likely buy a new desktop too.

2. When did you first go online and/or use email? Who did you email back then? How did the internet change your life? When did you discover blogging? What about your home internet connection - is it dial-up, DSL, cable?
I first went online in high school not too long after I got my first PC I dialed-up with AOL. I didn't know how slow dial-up was until I went to college and connected there. Initially, I got online to chat with friends who were online; I don't remember doing a lot of websurfing in the 90s--it was mostly for email and ICQ and other things like that. Now the internet does a little bit of everything for me from research to shopping--and now I'm on a cable connection. I've known of blogging for a bit, but I didn't really start reading any blogs until last year.

3. Do you remember your first VCR? What about a video camera (there were some bulky ones back in the 80s and 90s) and home videos?
My first VCR was a big hefty Toshiba--we had that thing for a LONG time. We never had a video camera and I never really wanted one.

4. When did you switch from VCR to DVD? How did it change your video viewing experience? Do you use TiVo or any such "contraption" to tape TV shows? Do you use Netflix or some other internet-based DVD "renting" service?
I started watching DVDs (and 12" laserdiscs) in college (around 1998) when I worked as in the library's media center. I wanted a DVD player then, but didn't get one until I got my HDTV in grad school. I have a hard time watchin tapes now and I'm so glad Lady and the Tramp is coming out on DVD next week, because that is the last tape I have. I don't Tivo or Netflix--yet.

5. What about music? Did you enjoy listening favorite music in Long Plays or did you prefer cassette tapes? When did you buy your fist CD player and switched to CDs? Did you abandon them (and turned to downloaded music) for MP3 players or Ipods or do you still buy CDs? (I'm not going to ask or comment about "illegal" music activities in the internet, even though it was an exciting innovation, lest one of us gets arrested for it :)
My favorite way to enjoy music growing up was radio. I owned records and tapes, but not that many--I think those technologies always frustrated me. I always felt there should be an easier way to get to the song I wanted to hear (my favorite song as a child being "Billie Jean"). I loved my first Walkman and HAD to have one, not to play tapes, but to listen to the radio. My great-aunt bought me a CD boombox one Christmas (maybe I was in middle school?) and I was immediately hooked on CDs. I haven't abandoned them for digital music although my interest in radio did lessen after the popularity of CDs (and the disappearance of local radio). Although I love gadgets, I don't have any plans to buy an Ipod (but I wouldn't refuse the gift). I have picked back up my college habit of listening to Internet radio and I will likely subscribe to satellite radio before I buy an MP3 player. And I will likely continue to buy CDs until they make something else.

6. Do you own and use a cell phone? Do you think it's useful or just annoying?(Did you always have a telephone in your house growing up? Did you have a phone in your own room?)
I own and use (constantly) a cell phone. They are indeed both useful and annoying. But I have always been a phone person--I would spend hours on the phone when my mom wasn't home growing up. I did have a phone in my room during high school and I was first exposed to mobile phones in the early 90s when my mother bought one to use for her real estate work. I got my first phone in college, a Nokia, and took that to graduate school. A cell phone was definitely necessary for me as a graduate student--particularly as a woman of color living in the middle of nowhere--it was my connection to the "real world." But when I changed apartments halfway through my studies, I switched to Verizon which I LOVE. I am now on my second LG phone and it is perfect for a gadget fan like me. And my dear Dr. J gave me a Bluetooth headset for my birthday so I am extra happy.

7. When did you first buy a digital camera? What kind was it (3.2, 4.0, 5.0 mega-pixels or better)? Did you start taking more pictures or were you a photo aficionado before then? What about a digital video camera?
As discussed here before, I am a photo aficionado, but I don't have a digital camera. I've been taking pictures for as long as I can remember. My first camera was an pink Kodak that used 110 film--check this page for a flashback. I had a camera or two that I can't remember but I really wanted a nice 35mm in high school. My mother bought me a Minolta for Christmas that I took to college and I believe she still uses it. I loved that camera. My last year of college, I purchased my first SLR and I still use it although I recently discovered there is something wrong with one of my auto features (I'm so sad about this). I'm waiting to buy a digital SLR (8 MP). Sometimes I think about buying a point and shoot digital, just for size and convenience (like the Cybershot) but I have a feeling that once I get my digital SLR, I won't use anything else.

8. What about televisions? Have you already embraced the new technologies, such as HDTV, plasma, and flat screen? (On the other hand, you wouldn't remember black & white TVs, would you?)
I grew up with television--cable television that is. I remember when channels like BET and MTV were new. I would sneak and watch these stations at home. During the summers, I would stay at my grandmother's house--she had two TVs--she made us (the kids) watch the Black and White while she "warmed up" the big floor TV to watch her stories. In my house there were always two TVs--one in the den that had the "digital" cable box (no remote) but on the TV itself, you had to turn two knobs to get local channels. The other in the living room that was a big floor TV also with the cable box you had to punch the different buttons like a switchboard to change the channel. Both of those TVs lasted a long time until the tubes blew out. I've seen a lot of TVs of all sizes since then but right now I do have an HDTV that I LOVE. Watching a DVD on my TV totally changes the home-movie going experience I must say. I will probably get a plasma when that technology is more stable and more widely available (meaning for me that even the nonamebrands like APEX can manufacture them).