What was the world like before computers?

I finally got my computer back after it crapped out about a week ago. Thank god I have someone in the family who is great with computers and saved me $85 an hour if I would've hired someone to fix it! (Yeah, as if that's even an option right now!) Anyway, he really saved my butt by going beyond just fixing and helping me learn more about my computer.

As the saying goes... "You don't know what you've got till its gone." Ain't that the truth? I don't know when I became so dependent on computers. Then again I don't know what the world was like before them. After all, I was raised with them. I remember our first family computer my mom bought for a pretty penny when I was in fourth grade.

It was a Laser 128 Apple Compatible. The word processing program was basically like having a type-writer hooked up to a monitor. There was no such thing as editing tools or spell check. The colors on the screen usually consisted of white or green against a black background. Anything more was breathtakingly beautiful and amazing! My favorite was blue lettering against a bright fuschia background.

The Internet was basically a bulletin board system (BBS) where people could hook their computer up to a phone line, dial out, wait a while for connection, log in and leave a message, upload or download software. Playing games was pretty popular too, but I never got into that. I was just fascinated by the sudden annonymity of communication. I got a real kick out of sending and receiving random messages to someone in Ohio or New York. It was kind of the CB radio system of the modern Internet.

Our printer was a dot-matrix. You know... the one where you have to thread the paper through just right and when you're done printing you had to tear the pages apart ever-so-carefully. Not to mention that the printing speed was about a page per minute or two and the sound was so loud that it was comparable to a screaming robot. Aww memories.

So, yes, even in my short lifetime, computers have come a long way, but what was the world like before computers? I'm reminded of all the stories my dad used to share with me about his childhood and I remember that he despised the "three C's" because they were essentially non-existent in his era. They were cell phones, credit cards, and computers.

From listening to his stories and what I'm able to put together from other sources, without computers, I imagine a very simplistic, slow, black and white world. People spent more time talking face-to-face and working through their problems like human beings. Handwriting was a LOT nicer and there seemed to be more of an emphasis on the importance of "proper" language and grammar.

Now, with computers, the world is more colorful and complicated. There's so much information available to everyone that for every "fact" you find, there are plenty of other sources to dispute it with convincing arguments to back it up. People seem to be almost afraid to speak to one another and would rather send a text message or email instead of confronting an issue with another person by talking. Language and grammar have blossomed into a plethora of dialects to fit every sub-culture imaginable.

I could go on forever about this, but with anything, there are advantages and disadvantages. It is true that we live in a time ruled by computers and the speed of technology is increasing exponentially. Acceptance of this fact if the first step. It seems that the current trend is to ride the wave of technology or drown in an ocean of ignorance.

I've learned that its good to know some basic maintenance techniques to keep up on the health of your computer just like its good to know how to change the oil in your car. Basic computer knowledge will help your brain think like a computer and protect it from these annoying crashes like I've experienced this past week. So, if we think like computers now, does that mean our brains will fuse together with them and someday create a hybrid race of human-computers? Maybe there's already people out there like that. I mean, look at Steven Hawking for crying out loud!