Technology in my Lifetime

My first memory of technology is when my parents bought us a new color TV. We had been using an old black and white TV that they had gotten probably ten or fifteen years before. I was about 7, so this would have been in 1984. I also remember that we had an Atari with this color TV and that was a big deal. Lots of fights between my brother and I over who got to play next. Shortly thereafter, we got our first VCR. I remember we bought it for my mom's 40th birthday. Such an awesome addition to our family! Prior to owning our own VCR, we would rent one, when we rented a video. I remember my first walkman that played cassette tapes- I was in the third grade. It was pink and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world! I must have been in the eighth or ninth grade when we got our first cordless phone for the house. What a treat that was, being able to roam about the house as we talked to our friends! I think it was about the same time or maybe a year before or so, that we got our first CD player. CD's were new and cool and only a few people had them. My parents had money, so we were one of the "cool" families. We had several computers over time starting with an MSDOS, and I don't know what the others were called, but my dad would bring a new one home every couple of years. The only thing I knew how to do was to type papers and print them. I remember our old printers had the kind of paper that you had to tear off the edges and also tear each page apart from the next piece. I got my first cell phone when I was 21. It was a Motorolla, and it was really big. I was one of the only people I knew that had one, so it wasn't that much fun to use, because I realized I didn't have anyone to call! 14 years later, I have been through my share of computers, CD players, MP3 players, DVD players, and of course, cell phones. I am still not up to date. I don't own an IPod or an IPad or a Kindle. I don't have the latest cell phone. Some of the latest technological advances in the form of communication scare me. There are just so many things to learn with them, that it is too overwhelming. I just feel good that I know how to use Windows 7 on my computer and know how to record American Idol on my DVR!