Janet's
Computer History
I recently attended the 4th annual Internet Marketing Super
Conference, held in Las Vegas in June of 2002, and sat through four
grueling days (9 AM- 10 PM) learning and meeting the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and the top
of the heap Internet Marketing Gurus. I was thrilled to be able to
actually sit down with and spend some quality time with many of them
regarding their business and products that would help me (and you) earn
more money on (or from) the Internet.
But, wait, I'm getting
ahead of myself.
I sometimes forget, as
many of you might, that not everyone I talk or write to
is as knowledge as I am using a computer or the
Internet. Now I’m not claiming to be an expert, but I
do have a lot of experience.
My computer
experience started long before PC’s were on every desk
or the Internet. At first I was a key card operator. I
typed information onto a long card, a Holerith (History
of this can be found at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/slubar/fsm.html
. Some of you might remember these cards in your phone
or utility bill. DO NOT BEND, FOLD, STAPLE, or PUNCH!
I was
taught by Bendix Corporation how to do Data Entry
on punch cards. We had BIG Bulky machines and it was
interesting work, even through I really didn't know how
to type very well, I held my own. Then technology improved
some and we switched over to a smaller card. My next
couple of jobs over the years as a data entry operator
we were soon typing information into a computer and NOT
using cards.
I went from
punching cards to working in the computer department of The
Tobacco Institute and while I was there along came a software program,
ALL-IN-1
by Digital Equipment Corporation. This was before Microsoft
times and at the beginning of when PC's started to
appear on everyone's desk. I was sent to "Digital
School" and was the main person to train other
users in the company. Then I got a big break and was
offered a training position with a private company to
teach ALL-IN-1 to a division of the government.
I helped create user manuals and did class room
training. I loved this! We didn't have a mouse, the
Internet was not available at this time (I guess Al Gore
was still working on it <g>).
More
Coming. This is a work in progress.
