Computers and Me
My first few memories of using a computer
Computers fascinate everyone. Today, we walk around with powerful computers in the form of mobile phones in our pockets. Our TVs have become smart. But it wasn’t so when I was growing up. Computers were a rarity, the Internet even more so. That’s one of the reasons why I remember every one of my initial encounters with this amazing machine so well. I haven’t really talked much about this specific part of my life, it’s time I did.
You can talk to TV!
During the late 1990s, there was absolutely no concept of smart TVs. Families owned the Cathode Ray Tube TVs, which were huge in size, ran on a cable connection, and displayed a limited number of shows and channels. When I was in standard 1 in the year 1997, I saw a computer for the first time in my school lab. I was wonderstruck. You can use your TV to do different things! You can talk to a TV! I drew this reference from the fact that computer monitors used in those days were CRT devices, much like the TVs. I know you Gen Z kids don’t get it, so I have attached an image to show you what a computer looked like. But one thing was certain, I was completely blown away by the machine.
Working on a computer
My father was a journalist and some of his work involved using a computer. He had employed a DTP (Desktop Publishing) Operator for the purpose. When the operator uncle worked, I would just sit and watch him in awe. His work revolved around Word, CorelDraw, and a little bit of Photoshop, nothing fancy as per today’s standard. But I was so into it. He can decrease font size! He can also increase font size! He can change the font of the text! Woahhh!
Mayank Bhaiya (we all have some Bhaiyas in our lives, don’t we?) introduced me to Digit, a tech magazine. And reading its issues shaped my computer journey forward. I was sure that I would opt for Computer Science after standard 10th. I was so not disappointed. I will never forget the first day I wrote a program in C++. I was so enamored by the experience that I would sit and spend hours after school in the computer lab, writing and trying out each and every syntax in the book. My Computer teacher, Nilanjan Sir, encouraged me in the practice. He used to say that the more time you spend exploring a device, the more expertise you develop in it. These experiences had a great impact on my formative years.
First email ID
My Mama (maternal uncle) used to travel to foreign countries quite often for his work. Now ISD calls were pretty expensive back then. So my mother would always complain to him that he did not contact her much when he was away. Since I am the eldest kid in my family, my mama took me to a cyber cafe. In Bokaro, the city where I have grown up, the Internet was limited to cyber cafes. He created the first email id for me to be used for contact whenever he was away in foreign. This is even before Gmail existed. I remember it was a Yahoo email id with a very funny username. (Don’t look at me, all of us are guilty of using weird, cheesy usernames at some point in our lives.) He also explained how Google works - you type a word and you can get a horde of information from it. Any guesses what my first Google Search was? Potato. The email training had started and I would always look forward to the next visit to the cyber cafe. When he was on trips, I would get a chance to visit the cafe and get his messages for my mother.
When he came back, he asked me why I would send 2-word replies to his 2-page emails. It was because I found typing difficult. That was when he enrolled me in a typing machine class. Yes, I have learned to type on a proper, authentic typing machine. Typing machine to Macbook Air, some journey it has been.
Looking back
Now that I think about it, there are so many people who played a role in my computer journey - my parents, my Mama, Nilanjan Sir, Mayank Bhaiya, even the cybercafe, and the DTP operator uncles. All of them have been instrumental in igniting my passion for computers and technology from such a young age, and I am grateful to them.
Let’s reminisce about our first computer memories. Share your experience of being introduced to a computer in the comments below or on Twitter.
A very Happy New Year to you and your family!
My introduction to computer journey :
I was first introduced to computer in my school lab I guess in 5th actually my whole class went there for working on Excel but the first thing I opened in that computer was paint and everytime my computer teacher comes I used to open MS Excel that's when I came to know we can minimize application .After that my elder brother needed computer for projects and assignment so my father bought computer ( in my case also one bhaiya helped him becoz he didn't knew about computers much) and that computer is still there in my home and this was the tym when i first said "Mere pas v computer hai " then my father enrolled me and my brother in computer classes to learn basic things nd that tym I was amazed so see so many things we can do on computer. Taking about my first email id I told one of my friend to create one of me becoz I didn't knew how to create and guess what it was a weird email id 😀. Mostly I used to go to cyber cafe with one of my friend to search things related to projects becoz back then internet was costly I think rs129 2gb/30days . From not knowing how to prepare a word document to working on different ide it was a great journey and looking forward to many more years .
And a very happy new year 🥳🥳
i still remember that day my cousin bought a computer our entire family was waiting for him to start . the moment it shows windows xp image and the sound it made literally gave me goosepumps.