Wow

I think back to my experience around and with computers. My first clear memory of being around a computer was when I was about 5 years old. My mom is an author and at home in her office at her desk was her computer. Often in the morning I would find my mom typing at her desk. Mom had an IBM computer at the time. It worked as a word processor she wrote and printed drafts of her cook books on and with a printer at home. Then she would send a cookbook draft to her Editor a person who worked for Random House or Penguin Publishing in a big corporate office and skilled at reviewing literature and making recommendations on the draft.

At one point I got to learn how to use my moms computer and practice typing. The object was to spell as many words as possible in a timed session. That’s how I learned how to type. At first I pecked at the keyboard and over time I was able to learn how to type. There was a game on my mom’s computer that was more like a mythical story. My memories of using my mom’s computer are not very clear. That was 42 years ago. There were no graphics and no pictures on the screen, it was all text, written onto the screen.

Several years later I moved out of my mom’s home and into my dad’s home. My dad also had a computer. He had several computers. My dad used his computers to manage his business. At the time my dad owned Apple Macintosh computers. The computer mouse pointing arrow tool had recently been invented. The first computers my dad owned had black and white screens. Black, white and grey graphics where all it could display. That and words. The computer my dad let me use had a paint program where I learned to draw simple pieces of art. My dad invested more and more in computers and learned how to repair them. Later my dad opened a computer store where sales people sold new computers and repaired used computers.

It’s accurate to say that from a young age I grew up around computers. It could have been 4^th or 5^th grade when at school us students were introduced to computer class. Our school had a computer room where our teacher brought us and taught us how to draw lines and designs on the Apple Mac computers with text prompts.

So much has changed in computing over the years. Whether I was using my parents’ computers or a computer my dad gave to me, computers were a significant part of my experience growing up.

“These days”, July 2025 the PC or personal computer has advanced so much it is mind boggling. Artificial Intellegence is powerful and so receptive it amazes me. The fear people have about AI has a basis weighted in science fiction. Why not, In science fiction stories there are villains and there are heros. In those stories usually the hero neutralizes the villain at the end. It’s a struggle.

People with experience using a computer vary as far and wide as humanity. I’m not too worried about Artificial Intelligence’s effect on humans. Artificial Intelligence will create new problems and solutions at the same pace. People struggle and overcome their struggles. That’s life and that is human nature. Life is good. Make the most of it.