Why i love technology

I am an older boy, but I love technology. While many of my colleagues were having trouble emailing, I was light years ahead.

One of the most useful things I learned in school was typing. By the time I finished tenth grade, I could type at 60 words per minute using any type of mechanical typewriter and produce a variety of documents. Learning to write has helped me in every job since.

I first encountered the technology when I joined the RAAF in 1965. Then we had teletype machines, or more appropriately called Telex machines. We wrote a message that appeared as dots on a long, narrow piece of paper tape, and when it was done, we put the tape in the machine, linked it to the phone line, and pressed a button. The telex tape chattered, sending the message faster than it could write. He produced an original and a carbon copy simultaneously.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, when I got to college in 1982 (as a middle-aged student), I discovered the first Apple II computer and a word processing program called Zardax. It didn’t take me long to use college computers and printers to produce my assignments, all of which were printed in minutes looking sharp and professional.

My fellow students were paying people to produce their assignments, while I produced mine in no time. The ability to cut and paste, embolden, italicize, and create the required footnotes automatically won me over and my life changed forever.

Later I became a teacher of technical and higher education in Queensland (Australia) and taught within the discipline of business and computer science. I taught typing using mechanical and electronic typewriters and word processors, desktop publishing, spreadsheets, databases, and programming, among other things. I loved technology, I loved students, and I enjoyed teaching it.

There was a lot that could be accomplished using state-of-the-art technology and well-thought-out software programming. As a teacher, and later as a department head and training director, she made my life much easier and more productive.

Since then I have loved technology and have great respect for those behind its design. Although I was reluctant to buy a smartphone for a few years, I have adapted well to my iPhone and all the great apps available.

Now, I can book a doctor’s visit in an app and even have a CASIO Edifice watch that checks sync accuracy with an iPhone app every morning at 7 o’clock.

How good is that?