Sounds of the past

Rochelle Juette
March 10, 2009
DTC 375
Essay 3
Word Count: 1,377

Click, Click, Ping, the Sounds of the Past

For this essay I decided to interview my mom, Linda Mitchell. My mom graduated from Richland High School and then went on to Eastern Washington University to get her bachelor’s degree in business administration. Once she graduated, she chose a career path that will forever link her to technology, an internal auditor. She started using typewriters in high school. She said, “At my high school I used an electric typewriter. The electric typewriters would move by themselves to where you didn’t have to change the paper or move the paper. The noise was my favorite part. Click, click, ping, click, click, ping. Later I begged my mother to buy an electric typewriter like all my friends and the school had, she finally ended up buying one in 1974.” Once she graduated college she moved on from the electric typewriter and began using what they called a dummy computer. Soon the technology once again advanced and she owned her very own computer at home and had one at work.

To her, the hardest part was learning all the new programs that were created for the computer. She said it was also hard because one company would have you using a certain type of software that you would have to learn, and then you would go to a different company and they were using a completely different program that you would have to also learn which sometimes got confusing for her. However, she said compared to the technology that we have today she feels that no one would ever want to go back to typewriters, not even the electric typewriter that she had to beg for. She said that they were too slow and messy and it was just very inconvenient to have to load them yourself, especially if you had to make several copies.

Rochelle: What was the first form of textual communication in analogue form?
Linda: I first used a manual typewriter when I was in high school, during 1972, where you actually had to use the carbon paper. However, at my high school I used an electric typewriter. The electric typewriters would move by themselves to where you didn’t have to change the paper or move the paper. Later I begged my mother to buy an electric typewriter like all my friends and the school had, she finally ended up buying one in 1974.

Rochelle: Did you ever take computer classes in school?
Linda: Yes, in college I took a beginning computer class where we learned about computer language like cobol and fortran. We also learned how to write a computer program, this was during 1975. And this was still on electric typewriters. I learned how to type up to 90 words a minute. I also took a class on short hand. In this class I learned to write at 110 words a minute.

Rochelle: When did you actually start using computers?
Linda: I didn’t start using computers until 1984. They were called dummy computers and we really couldn’t do anything with them. We just entered information into these formatted programs. Behind the scenes someone else would run the programs. They also called them dummy terminals. There was no way to wreck anything on them; all we had to do was enter the data. This was what I did in the payroll department at my first job at Bechtel.

Rochelle: Was it hard to go from typewriter to computer? What was different about it?
Linda: No, nothing was really different. The key board is exactly the same on both. The hardest thing was learning the different programs like excel and word. Before excel it was lotus and the difficult part was at one job you would learn one program then you go to a different job and you learn something different. It was hard to transition from all the different programs.

Rochelle: What other ways do you use computers? How do you use your computer at work?
Linda: I use computers for communication, data storage (information), entertainment, information gathering, current events, pictures, etc. For work, it is basically the same as how I use it at home: communication, data storage, information, research, audit programs. The audit program stores the information on the computer instead of keeping hard copies. We scan the information into the audit program and it can be shared to other people and to people who work for our company in a different state.

Rochelle: Before how would you do your audit reports?
Linda: We would keep all of the hard copies and store them in files. We would send things in mail so it took longer. However, we always send our reports through the mail because you sometimes can’t trust the internet. It is our policy to send it through the mail.

Rochelle: That’s an excellent point. So then what do you think are the negative things about computers?
Linda: I believe that computers can become an addiction. Computers have taken us away from personal connection with other people. No longer do we just go to the library to research, we now look it up online in our own homes. We have lost a lot of that personal touch. There is so much stuff out there now, it’s inappropriate stuff, and it can be easily accessed by anyone. When you send e-mails you have to really be careful with how you say things because the tone of the e-mail could be misinterpreted. E-mails could be sent to the wrong person and confidential information could end up in the wrong hands. Computers can be easily hacked

Rochelle: What were the negative things about typewriters?
Linda: They were so messy and time consuming. If you wanted three copies you had to have the original, then carbon copy, then original, then carbon copy, then original, and one more carbon copy and then you had to type really hard in order for the type to actually show up on the paper. It was slower than what we have today. If you lost a copy you would have to completely redo it unlike with computers you can save things. I don’t think anyone would go back to typewriters now because of how time consuming they were, you would have to use white out over the typo if you didn’t have the corecto tape or the type of typewriter where you could go back and actually take off the print. But on a carbon copy you couldn’t go back to it at all, on the original you could correct it but not on the carbon.

Rochelle: Well what are some positive aspects about computers?
Linda: They are more efficient, quicker, there are also so many different types of programs you can put on the computers, document programs, and different type of painting programs you can use for entertainment. There is so much technology on computers now you can do it at your desk at home, you no longer have to go out and get things done for you, and you can now do it yourself.

Rochelle: What were some positive aspects about typewriters?
Linda: I think the only positive thing about typewriters was that they couldn’t be hacked. Unless it was a carbon copy and people could get a copy from the carbon. Other than that your information was pretty much safe on the typewriter where as today anyone can hack into your files and steal all your work.

Overall my mom believes that the computer was a great invention. She said, “I don’t think anyone would go back to typewriters now because of how time consuming they were, you would have to use white out over the typo if you didn’t have the corecto tape or the type of typewriter where you could go back and actually take off the print.” With a typewriter you had to really check for errors, it took a lot of time to type up your work and make copies, the ink got everywhere and all over your hands, and you could only do one thing at a time. She enjoys computers at work because they store a lot of information electronically and they no longer have to worry about losing their hard copies.