Wrong Time?
Have you ever thought (or been told) that you were born in the wrong time? When in history do you think you would best ‘fit in’?
Since I just LOVE electronics and computers and all that geek stuff, I guess I was born in the right time to have all these wonderful devices. Who would’ve thought that I can listen to hundreds of songs from a device smaller than an egg, send a message across the globe and get a response back in seconds, meet wonderful new friends from all the blogging, and I could go on and on.
I got my degree in Computer Science back in the late ’70s and things were so basic and new back then when it came to computers. Since I lived in rural Missouri then and marriage seemed to be the right answer and not leaving to work in computers. People in my area wouldn’t hire me, because I was over qualified with my degree. I guess it scared some folks. Oh well, the life of a geek.
We used keypunch cards back then and I needed a shoe box just to carry all the cards for a simple program. (I had wrote a program on how to make a Wendy’s hamburger many ways). For those who don’t know what key punch cards are, when you write computer program, each line of the program was punched out on a card. So, if your program was hundreds of lines long, well you can imagine how many cards a person would have to carry around.
These pictures show a type of computer that was used back then and a sample of the key punch cards.
I also wrote a term paper in English class about debit cards. I just loved that idea of not having to carry much in a purse. I hate purses!! Anyway, I did some serious research on the idea and wrote, what I thought, a wonderful term paper. Well, my teacher didn’t think so. When I got my paper back, she said she didn’t understand the concept of debit cards, so my research didn’t back it up and she gave me a C on it!! I couldn’t believe it. How could anyone not understand the concept of a Debit Card and my research was right on. But then, she kept a picture of Dolly Parton on her desk, so that might explain a lot there.
Maybe I was born before my time.
I’m so glad I never had to learn key punch cards! My HS calculus teacher used to talk about them from his college days.
Wow! This is an awesome post! I didn’t even know about the key punch cards.
I do remember our first computer. I was in high school. And it was so funky. with the screen with the green letters and numbers. LOL Nothing like what we have now.
And our first computer’s we learned on in computer programming class. Everything we learned was in DOS. No internet, that I remember. LOL (This would have been my Senior year, so 92-93.) I remember writing a program that made apples fall from a tree. LOL And another on yahtzee.
Great post. Debit cards – now they were never going to catch on were they!
what a great post! thank you
Wow that is amazing Tammy. I didn’t know about the punch cards either. Our first computer was just a keyboard that hooked to the TV. All we could do with it was change the screen color and type. LOL! LOL! Then we got a Xerox and played games on it in DOS of course. LOL! That is AMAZING that you wrote that paper on debit cards. Too cool! Yeah…I laughed about your comment about your teacher and the Dolly Parton photo. TO FUNNY!
Obviously I’m not part o the younger crowd who have given comments because I DO remember those good old key punch cards! And after we were married, my first computer was a Commodore 64. I wonder what your teacher thought when debit cards came out! LOL
I loved reading your post this morning.
Oh, and hi – I’m Leslie, I live in Australia and am new to digital scrapbooking.
I agree with you, this IS the right time. The less in the past the better for me. I am also as intererested in computers as you.
LOL! Love the post, Tammy. And my dad used to tell me about the key punch computers he used in college. Wow things have changed!
You and me both, lol. I remember the computer we had in our high school, it was interfaced with the one at the nearby college, but it took up a whole wall. And yes I remember all the cards that we had to use…