History of Computers :: Computers Technology Technological Essays

History of Computers It all began on a brisk, damp October evening in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. All was silent in the household except for the incessant whistling of the tea kettle on the kitchen stove. Oh, and how can I forget the humming of the lawnmower in the backyard. I had just arrived home from band practice when the doorbell rang. Anxious to see if it was for me, I raced down the stairs in hopes that I had received a package, or perhaps flowers, from a boy. My mother answered the door and before my eyes, the largest box ever known to man was placed on the living room floor; it was our very first computer. Somehow I had forgotten that my mother had ordered one for the family only weeks before, and suddenly, caught up in the heat of the moment, my hopes of flowers from that boy in school vanished. Excitement and enthusiasm to put on my scuba gear and surf the web overwhelmed me within no time at all. I couldnÏ€t wait any longer to open the box and assemble th is new piece of machinery or to type my first paper using Microsoft Word or talk to my best friends via America Online. I felt on top of the worldà ¤no, waità ¤on top of the World Wide Web. (Cha-ching!) My parents amassed (emphasis on massà ¤haha) the computer in a half hour, and immediately after supper, I clicked on the icon displaying America Online. Without any hassles, I set up a screen name for myself and began talking to my friends. Naturally, I had no idea what I was doing, not even how to speak to more than one person at a time. Everything was going as smooth as possible; the computer was up and running and the family was content with the dayÏ€s accomplishments. Just when I thought I had it made-in-the-shade J, the computer started going haywire on me. It kicked me offline, the screen went blank, and the entire intricate system crapped out on me. The first thought that entered my head was, Oh snap! The world is crashing down on me I rushed to find my parents to fix the problem, but it was too lateà ¤the computer was gone, or at least I thought it was.