[Blindtlk] Dare to DreamRe: dose of reality?

[Rex Leslie Howard, Jr.]

The other day I was listening to the "50 years of NFB History" recording,
narrated by Kenneth Jernigan. In one of the segments, he had called a
convention to order and was going to do a drawing but had to wait for 20
minutes for the computer to reboot because someone had accidentally
unplugged it.

Can you imagine? A computer used to do simple arethmetic tasks and it took
it 20 minutes to reboot.

I wonder what that computer looked like? Did anyone here ever get to use it
or see it?

How mad would we be today if our computers took 20 minutes to reboot?

I am amazed over the technological advancements that have taken place over
just the past 10 or 15 years.

Remember the great leap between Windows 3.5? And Windows 95? That leap in
technology started the trend of bringing computers into the homes of most
Americans today. I don't know the stats but I would assume that at least
more than half of the U.S. population have computers or use computers in
some form or fashion.

This makes me think of a funny story.

My father went to prison in 1991 and was not released until 2003. When he
got out, he was shocked by all the advancements in technology. He did not
know what a debit card was, could not figure out how all these people were
walking around with "cordless phones." He had trouble with the newer cars
and the computer ... Well, let's just say he never did figure that out
before he died in 2007.

Who knows what the next ten years will bring. I dare imagine, though, that
they will bring things to us that we have not even dreamed of yet.