I was first introduced to computers when I was six years old at my elementary school in Florida. I remember that the screen was black and all the text was green, with no icons or start menu. All I used computers for at that time was for typing. This technology was so new and fascinating to everyone. Once I moved to North Carolina in 1996, we had a required computer class in school. We learned how to use the internet for research, and used the online encyclopedia Encarta. We used Encarta to look up facts about dinosaurs, presidents, and influential people in history. Other than typing games, we would play Oregon Trail, and some really fun math games. These programs/games taught me how to count change and to tell time. Teachers began using the computer and internet more and more. In my 6th grade social studies class, we played a game about different civilizations. This game, which I forget the name, dealt with the rise and fall of different civilizations and the tools and weapons they used. As time in each civilization passed, different resources became available and you could see their skills increasing. Computers really did make learning fun and it was a nice break from the books.
Eventually when my parents did buy a computer, it was a big deal! I played games like Tetris, Minesweeper, Solitaire, Duck Hunt, and the other games that came with the computer. One of my favorites was LIFE, on CD-ROM; they took board games and brought them to life. I remember playing LIFE with my best friend on her laptop. Laptops, to me, were so cool. Now you could take the internet and all your information anywhere. Once playing games got boring, I found AOL instant messaging. This was so much fun because if I was grounded and couldn't use the phone, I just got on the computer and talked to them online. I spent many hours' instant messaging friends, but it was fun because you could be talking to five people at once, instead of one person on a phone. Later on I discovered Napster and the wonderful world of downloading music and I have since bought very few cds. I could now download a few albums at the same time. As I've grown up, computers have been getting better and better. Now I use the computer multiple times a day for email, shopping, school, and just wasting time. I can't image my life without a computer and the internet.
Computers aren't always as cooperative as we all would like. For example, I recently was writing a ten page market analysis, didn't save my work yet, and the screen went blank. The computer just froze up and shut down leaving me to rewrite my ten page paper before the next morning. Computers have taught me to be patience and to save often! Computers can be the best tool, but when you are cramming a paper in at the last minute and your system shuts down, it can be your worst enemy.