Many things change in life, well most things do apart from men’s underpants, and technology is one of the massive changes that have influenced the way computers are used and have evolved.

When I was at school I remember a computer lab being opened. Yes there was a dedicated room for the learning of computers and it was the only place they were used and that was only in the junior school of my school in Wellingborough.

This pokey room with, if my memory serves me right (which often does not), no windows and formica topped tables was furnished with a dozen or so Commador 64 computers, cassette decks and a single printer and cost over twelve thousand pounds. A vast sum in 1979. Probably around £240,000 today. Gulp, gosh, strewth!!

They were only good if one could programme, understand the BBC programming code and use a keyboard. I could do none of this and the more the teacher spouted out about this alien language the more confused and  lost I became to the point of loosing any interests these strange machines held. Games were something one got dressed for and played outside not to be used on computers. No, no, no!

So it was safe to say that this put and end to wanting anything more to do with computer technology. A pen and paper held enough of a challenge for the like of me and probably many other like minded people.

Ten years later I did get to play games on a Spectrum ZX 64 whilst getting over Scarlet Fever. Only because I was so bored and had to be isolated. Some think I still should be but that is another issue. I’m not strange or mad its everyone else. So there!!

It wasn’t until Microsoft, love em or loath em, introduced its Windows platform that the PC truly became a machine that could be used by relative idiots. Whahoo I thought;a group I can finally fit in to.

Okay it took a while and they were quite limited and bulky and internet connections took a while to catch on and were incredulously slow (using dial up and unless you had two phone lines which was terribly posh and costly you couldn’t talk to granny on the phone) in comparison to the modern fibre optic broadband we have now ( and you can phone granny, record programmes on your digi top box and use another computer all at the same time; wowzers)). It’ll never catch on but it did and look at us now. PCs are becoming less used in favour of laptops, tablets, hybrid phablets and notebooks but fundamentally they are the same and can be found in the most far flung and remote places on earth and in nearly every home. (my dad must be the only exception as he doesn’t want one or use one, even though he know how to a bit).

Apple has had a stab at this market too and has been quite successful. Stop it! Tongue in cheek humour. My imaginary friend doesn’t have one. Humour sense that is and come to think of it neither does he have an Apple computer.

I remember seeing an Applemac computer a dozen or so years ago (I know they came out before that but I had never seen one in real life before) and thought it to be fantastic and why can’t my portable telly do this? Now look at them with their stand alone Operating System and sleek designs. Expense is an issue but they do last longer and are slightly more efficient that the Microsoft Windows options.

Ah now Windows!!

Windows 10 is a love it or hate it set up. I love it and its the most stable and reliable platform to date and in my mind and is a good enough rival to Apple for me not to switch.

So thats about it really.

64 bytes! Yes that is all you got back in the 70s and early 80s and my E-reader has more memory than that by a long stroke. Now we are looking at phones with 128 Giga bytes which is, well lets just say loads more. Its probably the same difference in size comparison as a matchbox car against a massive ocean going oil tanker or modern cruise liner. Pcs and laptops are engaging in tera bytes now which would blow the mind of our early computer  and the teaching/user buffs and the need for the masses to programme? None, none what so ever as applications, software and hardware do it all for us without blinking an eye. We just take it for granted.

My teacher, whoever he was ( I honestly have no idea of a name or description of the person), will surely be supporting a very red face today as games on computers have over taken the boring work and office uses of this machine and even have their own dedicated machines designed around play. Oh how I smile at this.

A lot has changed in nearly 40 years and my guess is that a lot more will change in the next. I might just get to see it and be able to post another boring post about what I have seen so till then happy changing.