3:40 PM
The
last two topics that I remember on this blog challenge were Write
What You Know and Finishing
Something. So I'm going to do these in that order.
It is a bit of a historical presentation, which I would have done, but some time later. Thanks again to Jeff Goins for his nudge.
I am not one of those people who avoided
it. I wanted to learn and use Facebook. I wanted a cell phone [and not just for
roadside emergencies].
This is all about how I came to know and
love Internet Technology and some of the developments that I have seen a long
way.
I entered internet technology when it was
still called automation. Automation was the experience of going from
everything being manually operated to everything being somehow electrical and
much more efficient to use.
The year must have been somewhere around
1963. I was in the 7th grade. I took my first and only typing
class. I learned to type on a manual Royal typewriter that had no letters on
its keys. There were 12 of those machines in the typing room and the English
[Mrs. Queenelle Neal] teacher also taught the typing class. It even had an automatic carriage return key.
Mrs. Neal owned a Smith Corona electric
typewriter which she brought to school with her once in awhile. It had its own carrying case. She wanted us
to know what an electric machine was like. So she let us take turns and it was
a thrill.
In the seventh grade I broke my typing
speed on a heavy, black, metal, manual Underwood typewriter with gold painted
letters. I typed 72 words a minute.
I also learned office equipment which
included a transcriber, an adding machine, a bookkeeping machine and probably
something else that I have forgotten.
My employment rested on my typing
ability.
My
first full-time job was clerk-typist. I used an IBM Correcting Selectric
II. It has a removable ball on it that controls all the fonts [an element]. It
was only capable of typing in lines. To make a justified line of type, you had
to count the letters in the line, add in enough spaces to equal the margin, and
then spread the words out across the line as you type so that you would be sure
to make it to the end of the line in a block formation. It was also the end of
manual carriage returns. Today, every keyboard in the world has a return key.
It kills a typist’s speed to have to reach up and ‘throw’ the carriage.
Then I encountered memory typewriters.
The most impressive one was the MAG card. It punches holes in a card as you
type and recorded your work. When you got ready to use it again, you just put
the magnetic card into a slot and it types for you. You only had to type in the
variables like the names and the addresses.
So after I learned the MAG card and was
able to use it with ease, I became a word processor. As a matter of fact, I
became a legal word processor. I was a fast, accurate typist with a good
vocabulary. From this point forward, I became a Word
Processor. A Word Processor is the person who operates the dedicated word
processing computer. The only function it had was document preparation. There
was a word processor called Display Writer [IBM] which used several different
8-inch disks. There was one for input, one for edits, one for printing. I seem
to even recall that there was a start-up disk.
Lawyers process a great deal of documents
in a day or night’s time. In many larger firms, there were several floors. Once
in Los Angeles, I temped at a law firm that had 24/7 word processors.
This was a really fun position.
So there was a room which held
approximately 15 people and desks with their word processors. It was the 1980’s
version of the typing pool. We had impact printers. They were so loud
they had their own room. Imagine the palpable joy we felt when the firm bought
laser printers. No noise!
I left word processing for a time. When I
returned technology, many great strides had been taken. For example a
laser color printer could be had for well under $500.
When I was in word processing, we had one
color printer in the firm. It was locked away in a high-ranking secretary’s
office. But in the late 1990’s, every home had its own DeskJet printer with no
need for locks and anyone could use them any time.
My first official position was clerk-stenographer.
This person listens to and transcribes information that has been recorded on
cassette tapes. They were regular cassettes, mini, or micro. It was just one of
those amazing but legal functions I’ve performed for pay.
Google Voice Typing
Today I can talk and my words will be
presented directly onto
the screen in front of me. What's not to love!?
It is a very, very exciting moment.
Another fond memory in automation was
floppy disks. They ranged in size from 5¼ inch to 3½–inch microfloppy
diskettes. Then we went to thumb drives and now we're in the Cloud. It
is fabulous.
As to cell phones:
I
have gone from a $9.99 flip with a camera to a Blackberry, with internet
access. The next phone had a slide opening. Later, I had my sister’s used
iPhone 4. After being mistakenly informed that it had no front camera, I put it
aside. In its place, came a BLU Studio 610A. I dropped it in the parking lot.
It scattered in three different directions and shattered the screen. Not one
for spending high prices for phones, I went shopping. Within 30 days, I moved
from Net 10 to StraighTalk to Metro PCS to Boost and finally came to rest with
Verizon. I have used most of the major carriers.
Today, I am happy to report that I am the
owner of a Samsung Galaxy S5 [16 megapixel camera]. I bought it slightly used
but in great condition. I can now update my website and upload photos with full
authority. Internet Technology—once you know, you gotta love it!
SandraTeresa
Davenport | The Health Reverend
LiveWellToday/DrinkTeaAlways!
 |
| Just a Little Left. Enjoy! |
Note:
Finishing Something soon to follow.
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