Why did you first get online?
In 1982, I was in the Navy and stationed in London England right out of a 3 week computer school. It was there, that I found that we could actually type back and forth to Pensicola, FL to get our advancement test scores before anywhere else in the fleet. We would be the ones transferring all of the Atlantic Fleet test scores out to them once they had all been compiled and transmitted to us. Once I returned to the states in 1984, I discovered that there were internet connections called “BBS” that was very intriguing to me. I joined a local BBS out of Bristol, CT. Of course they could only have 5 people on line at the same time and later expanded to 10 people. I used to go to a chat room and play moderator on Trivia night. Occasionally, all of us would meet and go bowling and there I was able to put faces to the mysterious people typing to me. The couple that started the BBS decided to drop it as it became too expensive to expand.
When did you first get involved with digital and why?
I first got heavily involved with digital while I was in the Navy. Of course the old days consisted of punched cards transmitted to pay and personnel records. Later, I learned about data bases, email and just how powerful te digital age was becoming. I was constantly striving to learn new things about computers. All of this started when I was in High School and my father took apart a Commodore 64 to show me what made it work. He played a game tape (similar to an audio tape) and I heard the squelch that he explained to me was what told the circuits what to do. I was hooked. I wanted to know more! I continued on with my Navy computer career, learning all I could possibly learn and then transferred to the Army in 2001 where I was able to work in repair and network setup.
How would you describe your work and professional interests in the 1990’s (or 80’s etc).
I’m a business owner specializing in music for the elderly. Of course all of my music is now digital. I’m still amazed at how far the digital age has gone and look forward to the next 20+ years of technology that is out there waiting to be put out to the public. The 80’s would be described as more of a discovery stage for me in the digital world. The 90’s would be catagorized as the “fine tuning”. All of my computers and laptops are networked to one central location in my house. Every civilian job that I’ve worked in has been computer based. “If my personality isn’t enough for you, my computer skills certainly are!”
What do think the future will hold internet/digital?
The possibilities are endless!! It was a sad day when the government decided that new technology was hitting the streets too quickly which caused that new technology to slow. I want to see “today” how far we are with new digital technology. I fear that most of the general public will see their privacy diminished unless they learn how to defend themselves against digital preditors. I can say that I’m as excited today as I was in the 80’s during my discovery era to see what’s next.