[Blindtlk] Dare to DreamRe: dose of reality?

[Hyde, David W. (ESC)]

If Curtis Chong is on this list, he may have programmed it. As I remember, it generated a random number, and someone looked up the number which was paired with a name on the registration list.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rex Leslie Howard, Jr.
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 11:12 AM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Dare to DreamRe: dose of reality?

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.



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