|
On Valentine’s Day 1946, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania unleashed ENIAC, which launched the world into the computing age. Today, it is difficult to imagine how we could manage without the myriad electronic devices we use each day. From our personal computers, cell phones, PDAs, and cameras to our automobiles, medical equipment and devices, electronics is the engine driving us forward. In fact, although I can’t prove it, I have heard that the automobile industry uses more computers than any other. Whatever size these electronic components may be, we are in the electronic age. I’m glad I am living in it. Note: much of this paragraph is from the following website: seas.upenn.edu/~museum as they celebrated the 60 years of computing as of 2006.
My very first computer was an IBM clone in 1985. The marketplace PC was just four years from its introduction in 1981, and from that point until I finally gave in and bought my first PC, I could not see buying one. After all, I thought, what could a computer do that I couldn’t do with my $4.00 handheld four-function calculator? I remember watching the early television commercials for the first commercially available computers; the whole family gathered around the computer (in the living room, of course), as Mom or Dad was entering recipes into the computer by way of a keyboard. This was something VERY new and interesting. Again, my point of reluctance to buy one back then was proven: why enter recipes into a computer when a recipe book probably organized the recipes in a far more efficient manner? With my calculator, I could solve every math or business problem I encountered. Little did I realize how I would change my mind and buy a computer – all because of Lotus 1-2-3, one of the first spreadsheet programs that was successfully marketed.
Fast forward to the present day and look at the advances in computing power, size, and availability. There seems to be no end to those parameters when we are discussing computers and how they can improve and simplify our lives, not to mention how we are able to find virtually anything we want on the Internet. Take a look at the various products I have picked out for my recommendations. I have listed products here that I believe you will get the most “bang for your buck.” These products are not the most powerful or the most expensive. But rather they are products that I have either purchased or would purchase if I needed them.
|
