Our History- Getting a "Real" Computer

 When Garrett and I were in college there were computers, but pretty much only universities and huge businesses had them. Computers required special air conditioned rooms where highly trained people in white coats carefully programmed the computer. They had to put all the information into the computer by using a binary system where holes were punched into cards, and then these cards were put in a slot to “feed” the information into the computer. This was hardly a “personal” computer!

Years later, we got a “computer”. It was just a book with a couple of games that you could attach to your TV. You could press on the page to say yes or no. It wasn’t much.

Next came the Nintendo system which you could attach to your computer and play games. David loved to play “Mario” and got pretty good at it. I got so tired of listening to the music over and over that I insisted that he mute it.  

Not long afterwards, in 1984, we got our first “real” computer. It was large and heavy by today’s standards. We probably wouldn’t even consider it a computer today. All you could do was type on it, but you could make changes and it saved what you wrote. We thought it was wonderful! 

Since we were the only people around us that had a “real” computer, our neighbors thought we could instantaneously do anything. It was a great step up from an electric typewriter, but there was little we could do on it. Also, you had to use a binary code just to change the margins or put in columns. 

We were so impressed with Garrett’s skill in making our computer do things. The Post Office had sent him to Utah Tec in Orem to learn the binary code programming. He wrote a driving test for our teens so they could practice answering questions from the driving manual. 

Over the years we kept updating. At first they didn’t know what type of system the computer would use. Next, we were told that we would never need more than 19 megabytes of memory. 

Now, computers are a main tool in our lives. From my laptop, I shop, do family history research, send messages to friends and keep in touch with family, research topics, read my books, write, and keep our photo albums. I design my own blogs and publish my writing. Garrett writes business reports, advertizes, and does accounting. It is hard to imagine living without computers now.