Techno Mum

And no, I am not talking about trance music. Today’s theme for my #30bbdaysofgratitude challenge is Technology. A LOT has changed since I was a kid, and at times, I often wonder what the world will be like technologically by the time my children have grown up. At times, even though I consider myself to be a bit of an “early adopter” it’s hard to keep up with the latest trends and changes, but man am I grateful for some of the changes I have experienced in my life time! Here are some of the key things that stand out for me!

The Internet

An obvious one, as lets face it, I wouldn’t be talking to you now without it! – It is hard to believe that the internet didn’t even exist in ANY capacity when I was a girl. When I was at school and working on my homework, the equivalent of “googling it” was popping in an Encarta CD-Rom – an electronic encyclopaedia if you will – that was pretty much my only source of information.

When the internet did become common place (when I was about 11), my Dad invested in a modem so we could ‘dial up’ to the internet. The noise of dial up is something that has to be heard to believed, and I am partly sad that my daughters will never recognise the sound! If we wanted to use the internet, I had to wait till my Mum had got off the phone to Nan, as we couldn’t use it at the same time, and even then my Dad limited me to off peak usage, otherwise we had to pay by the minute!

When I was at University (god this makes me sound old!) my friend Sarah sent me a link to a new social networking site called Facebook – she told me it was the next best thing and was going to be huge. I thought it was very random at the time, why would anyone want to know what I was doing? Little did I know I would end up on it every single day!

Telephony

Again, when I was a kid, mobile phones didn’t even exist – or at least not for ‘standard folk’ like my family. When I was a teenager, if I was out and about and wanted to get in touch with my family, I would have to use a pay phone and insert coins for a few minutes call time. Phone boxes weren’t very nice, and I often fell fowl of the tomato ketchup on the handset trick – (those pesky kids!) 🙂

When I was 17 years old, I got my very first mobile phone. I remember it like it was yesterday – I had a beautiful Nokia 5110 with changeable covers – at the time it was amazing- a small brick with an external arial port. I could send text messages, call people, and most importantly play Snake. Quite possibly the coolest game known to man.

At the time, texts cost 12p each, and lets face it no one really text me unless I asked them to. A good job really as the phone could only hold 10 in its inbox before its memory got full and I had to go through and delete!

As for apps, media messaging, wifi and 3/4G, forget it. Mobile phone were for actual talking!!

Television

When I was a girl, TV’s were square, cube shaped and BIG, and took up the whole corner of a room.

We had just four channels on our TV (BBC1, BBC2, Central (ITV) and Channel 4). TV also turned off in the early hours of the morning, so if you woke up too early, you would simply see a picture of a girl with a rag doll and easel – nothing to keep you entertained during the night!

Channel 5 launched when I was around 14, and was the most exciting thing ever! When I was about 16, I convinced Mum and Dad to let us have cable – where we would spend hours watching all the latest music videos on The Box – including Spice Girls Wannabe!

Before we went on holidays, my mum would spend hours setting up our VCR to record her favourite shows – but with only one tape (with around 8 hours of space), she had to be selective. Oh and as for live pause – it didn’t exist. God forbid someone rang the house phone for a chat during Corrie or in the middle of a BBC Drama you’d been watching for an hour and a half – you simply had to miss it and hope that some kind soul would fill you in!

Hair Straightners…

Ok, so this one’s personal and yes, not quite so ground breaking as some of the others – but MY GOD whoever invented hair straighteners, I need to kiss your feet. When I was a girl, hair straighteners didn’t exist and it only takes a brief look through the family albums to establish that fact. I have been ‘blessed’ with incredibly thick hair, and therefore getting it smooth was always a challenge. During the majority of my teens, I worked the frizz bouffant look, something which isn’t to be taken lightly, although at times I mixed this up with a curling tong or dare I say, crimper.

At the age of 19, I bought my first pair of GHDs for £109 and have never looked back. God bless you, you heated plates of love!

As for what comes next, who knows? At times my mind boggles at just how much we are able to do. Who’d have thought we could shop online from the middle of a field? Park a car without turning the wheel? Get directions without having to ask a stranger or have a family argument? I cant wait to see where the world takes us next, I just hope that I can keep up!! 🙂
Lucy xxx