Computers: The Life Story of a Technology, PART II

Just as a side note before I get into the actual post, is it bad that I forgot how to put up a new post already? haha. :P

The second half of the reading Computers: The Life Story of a Technology was a pleasant surprise. I remembered how I thought that the first half was a bore and was expecting to just read words again. However, I was very engaged in the reading and found it interestined to learn the background stories of how companies I know pretty well (I think I do at least) these days as well as the modern PCs, like the ones I use today, came to be. Some were dare I say it, cute stories, such as how the Altair 8800 microcomputer got its name (86) and others were just downright amazing, like the story of Microsoft (88~on).

It was mind boggling to me to think that people wanted the Altair 8800 microcomputer so much that they waited months and dealt with all the problems, even when the microcomputer had no peripherals. I could't help but wonder, what the hell did they use it for!??! Perhaps it's because I'm so used to having a computer that I basically use for everything, from writing essays to playing games, that I cannot imagine how I would be able to use a computer without many of those capabilities.

I don't know if I should say it's funny or weird to know how young these entrepreneurs were when they first started. Paul Allen and Bill Gates were programmers since middle/high school, and worked for fun as programmers (which is just absurd! working for free just because it's fun????). Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were also in high school and went on to work throughout college at verious companies.Just as a side note here, I thought it was hilarious how Apple first started on April Fool's Day with its machine costing a friendly $666.66 (91).

Because of people like Allen, Gates, Jobs, and Wozniak, the PCs are where they are today. With better computers, more software programs developed as well as something I cannot imagine being without, games! Better computers helped, also, to improve how the world is connected through LAN, WWW, and wireless networking. Of course, this led to the second to last chapter of the book, "Computers Everywhere," which is so true for us, but not for the whole world.

The digital divide is actually pretty dangerous, in my opinion. Because technology enables us to do so much, those who are lacking it are lacking so much more and falling behind rapidly, as technology is rapidly evolving. While the gap exists globally, certain factors such as race, income, and education seem to matter a lot (133).
The final thoughts made me think a lot, especially the last paragraph on page 149. If I thought that computers 50 years ago were primitive and basically useless, it is very possible that the computers we use today will be considered primitive and useless when we look back 50 years from now, despite it being really hard to perceive right now. I just hope I can keep up with the rapidly growing technology so that in 50 years from now, I can be the one to say, "Wow, those computers in 2010 really were nothing!"