I began to think about how I was living in 2000. I was in the barracks on Fort Carson until July that year, then I got married and we got a crappy little apartment. I was setting up the only computer I had at the time with Windows 2000, and I was loving the new (to me) operating system. Wireless networks didn't exist. 802.11 was completely unknown to me. In fact, I had never had broadband access, and didn't until sometime in 2001.
I had a 17" CRT monitor and a 350MHz Athlon processor. It was fast enough. It wasn't just something I had, though - no computer was back then. It was installed. It had its own room. Not like the huge mainframes you see in black and white pictures, but back in '00 my computer deserved a desk with speakers, printer, and a scanner. Plus a telephone cord leading to it all.
Jump to 2003, when I got my first laptop. This new wireless thing was catching on, and I paid $120 for an 802.11g router from Dell with my computer order. The laptop had a PC card for the WiFi (it was just before they began building it in) and I was amazed at it. Finally - no wires. I remember running outside the apartment to put my computer on the hood of my truck to test the range. What a night!
Jump to 2010, and I find myself standing at the kitchen counter in my slippers, blogging away. There is no desktop or laptop plugged in to the network. We simply don't need it. WiFi has become so prevalent that we don't even wonder about it anymore. Where was I going with this?
That's it - I'm on one of two computers in the house (besides the Windows Home Server) and neither one of them are installed. This notebook I'm on now goes with me everywhere, and I don't ever think about my connection anymore. I'm just in the kitchen at the moment.
That statement is to remind me of where I was at the beginning of 2010, so I can look it up in the beginning of 2020 for comparison. I really do wonder where computing is headed. I think it starts somewhere around here.
No comments:
Post a Comment