Remember those computers that came in those cow print boxes? Well I got to take this baby to college with me in 1997. What kid, especially a freshman, had a laptop? Not many. But I did. And I felt pretty cool. I would lug this thing up to campus and plug it in. It only lasted a few minutes it seems when it wasn't plugged in. It even came with an ethernet card/cable. Hilarious. During my first semester, only MS Words was working, and after using it for a semester to write papers, it ended up on my closet shelf.Many years had passed, and for computers, that means this thing became ancient. HF and I were recently married and were discussing purchasing a computer. Then I had a "brilliant" idea. "Why don't we update my old laptop and use that?!" YEAH! So we take it into the computer place on campus, and when I pulled the laptop out of its case that said, "Gateway 2000" on it, the nerd herd guy's eyes grew wide and he began laughing. He called his nerd herd buddies out from the back so they could all get a good laugh. I said, "So there's nothing you can do with this." They all laughed even harder and said, "That thing belongs in a museum". So we left, humiliated, and took it to another place. This time when the employee's eyes grew wide, he was in awe. He respected and loved this computer. He said reverently, "I haven't seen one of these in. . . years!" Then he called his co-worker buddies over and they all oohed and ahhed over it, saying things like, "This is amazing!" or "This should be in a museum" but with much more respect than the last guy. So we learned again that there was nothing to be done with this machine.
So it is now Daisy's play laptop. At first, she was like, "Are you kidding me? Why won't it turn on? What does it do?" But now she likes it. It's pretty heavy, so she can't carry it around with ease, but it is now a fun make-believe toy. I thought it was interesting that at first she thought it was lame. When I was her age, this would've been the coolest toy ever even though it didn't turn on. Kids these days expect their own major laptop that they can surf the web or whatever? I don't think so. Not for a five, well now six year old. Seriously. What is with the kids these days?
10 comments:
My one year old is VERY interested in cell phones, but she already knows the difference between the old, non-working ones and the ones she has to "steal" because they're still being used. I think they like to mimic us as closely as they can, so having a machine turn on and do all that mommy and daddy can do is what makes the toy cool.
Personally, I'm just impressed you HAD a laptop in '97. It was amazing to me my freshman year in '99 that a few of my roommates had PCs (I also learned to type circa 1994 on a typewriter), and now a lot of campuses have gone paperless, in which it's a requirement to have a laptop for class. Updates come even if we aren't aware of them or ready for it!
We have a graveyard of old computer equipment in our closet as well.
Not too long ago when I was making the decision between an 8 gig or a 16 gig ipod, my husband asked if I remembered that my first (and last--I'm a diehard Mac girl) PC in early '97 only had 1 gig of memory. And yet he *still* managed to play Command and Conquer on it! The only reason I didn't go with a Mac then was because the Navy base in Spain only carried software and games for PCs. And now I have a 2 terabite external storage drive for my laptop that weights almost nothing! Amazing!
"Nerd Herd"--I love it!
LOL thats Fantastic... We gave our 9 year old Mr Deputys old laptop from 98 also a gateway for her room to practice typing on.. She asked "Can i get on the internet with it?"
No dear you cant its only to use the word Document to help you type better.
Her reply?
"Well what use is it then if i cant check my website."
lmao, she has her own site to keep in touch with her father and his side of the family.... Kids these days expect too much even our soon to be 5 year old wants a computer for her upcoming birthday...
I long to go back to the days where playing Kick the can was coool...
We're talking about getting our 4 year old her own iPod for her birthday. It's a technology crazy world, and scary, because in a few years my kids will be more tech savvy than me.
We were high speed - low drag in 1986 when we got to our first duty station and for Christmas bought an IBM PS2 computer. Complete with TWO, count 'em, TWO 3.5" floppy disks. No hard drive though. And it still kicked butt! We used to play Ultima 7 and recently set up this computer to run DosBox so I can play all the ultra-old games.
Thanks for a smile.
Cool...my grandkids would love a make-believe computer
If you were a college freshman in 97, we're the same age. :-)
We bought our daughter a toy remote because she always wanted ours (she's one by the way)....she wasn't fooled for a second!
Also - I wanted to tell you that I found a bullet in my washer yesterday!! I immediately thought of your post! I need to start checking pockets better :)
Christopher ~ An ipod for a 4 year old!?!? Holy Cow that is one special kid.
Mrs. Fuzz, I could have written your post except I started college a few years before you. I had a monster lugger of a lap top also. As my parents were saying their final goodbyes and leaving me at the dorms, my dad (rest his soul) had some final loving words of advice which I remember to this day. "Don't let any of those boys bat their eyelids at you and install Windows 95 on your machine. It just can't handle it!"
thanks, dad...
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