The first time I was introduced to a computer I don't remember what kind of feeling I had. If my memory serves well (and my friend's too), it was in the year of 1997. That's when I first saw those flat lying bulky briefcases in ivory with pretty green and red lights and a B&W monitor sitting on it's top. It was in our school's computer lab. I was doing my 7th grade then.
Here are few stats:
Introduction to computers : IBM-PC -1997
First Operating system : MS-DOS
First Word Processor : WordStar - 1998
First self made word document : Contact list for my home
(the list approximately comprised 30 phone numbers) - 1999
First Computer game : PAC-man
First movie on Computer : High Voltage. Watched it for 35 minutes. - 1998
Our computer classes were scheduled twice a week and every alternate classes were lab sessions. Our computer master was a sadist. If he teaches 2 classes, on the 3rd one he used to ask us to sing for him. There were students who were caned for not singing. One of the most memorable incidents was when he screened the movie High Voltage in the lab. That was my first experience watching a movie in a computer. The lab wasn't large enough to accommodate all the students at one time. So, we were divided into two batches and only boys were allowed. I'll tell you why. When the first batch returned after their 40 minutes of screening, they were all pepped up, sheepishly grinning and followed by hush hush talks. Few inquisitive souls ( including me ) wanted to know what happened. At lunch time the mystery was revealed. There was a french kiss scene in the movie; and that is why only boys were allowed. By now, the second batch were all prepped and were eagerly waiting for the next lab session. Secrets never stay; most girls came to know what we were up to. When we had our turn, I still remember how we stared at each other when this scene came up. It was an embarrassing situation for all puritans (not me). It's funny now when I think of how the situation was countered by looking at the wall hangings, reaching out for a dropped pen, etc. It doesn't stop there; we continued mocking at every reaction that was witnessed in the lab. And so continued my journey with computers.
The tryst had since then moved on from personal computers to room sized servers, clusters, mainframes, storage cabinets, tape libraries, blades, virtualization and now the most recent clouds. I can't attribute the journey I enjoyed to anything but for this little device that I came in possession of.
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| CASIO - Personal Computer PB-700 |
My Periappa had bought this from the middle east and gifted it to my dad. Apparently, it found it's place in a safe corner inside the cupboard and was locked up there ever since. My dad used it very little, or I would say didn't use it at all. My mother wouldn't let me touch it as it was a precious thing and not a kids toy. When I was introduced to computers in my school that's when I convinced my mom to let me use this little personal computer. It had its user manual along with it. It was in 1998, I was doing my 8th grade. That's where it all started and so my voyage with computers began.
The first usable program that I remember writing was the one that I coded to calculate the average marks of each student on every subject. Being introduced to C programming in my 10th grade, I translated a C program to a BASIC program which would calculate the appropriate air temperature to be maintained with the given humidity inside a TEA drier machine. That was for my dad as he used to work in the TEA Industry. I don't remember if he ever used it. He still relies on paper and pen.
It doesn't matter where you get started. Getting started is all that matters.
