Documenting Technology

I grew up in a technological family. We got our first computer in 1980. It was an Apple 2+ that we hooked up to our television and could program in BASIC and play simple games. A while later Dad used it to run simple word processing and spreadsheet programs, but getting it to print was difficult. Even when it did print, the documents were difficult to read because our printer couldn't do "descenders" - the term Dad used for lower case letters like ‘g' and 'y' that dip below the line. Dad liked to use it, but it was really much easier for him to have his secretary type his memos for him. Of course, we didn't have an Internet connection; the Internet didn't exist. Prior to purchasing that computer, Dad would occasionally bring home a terminal that we would use to dial into the UNIX machine in his office to play "Hunt the Wumpus" and "Adventure," a couple of text-only games that were resident on most UNIX machines. The terminal didn't have a screen at all; it printed everything on a roll of paper which would flow out of the thing until the floor was about a foot high in paper - at which point my mother would make Dad take it back to the office.

If you are under the age of 30, you probably have no idea what the above paragraph is about. Wouldn't it be great if I had some pictures to go with the above description? Of course, in those days before digital cameras, no one would waste film on a picture of a computer terminal.

Now, my children are growing up in a technological family. We have a computer in the kitchen and both boys became proficient with the mouse at age three. 30 years from now, I'm sure our high-speed Internet connection and flat screen monitor will look as archaic to their children as my Apple 2+ would look now. Unlike when I was growing up, we now live in the age of digital cameras and I'm using mine to take pictures of the boys using the computer. I've captured the hardware as well as their favorite applications showing on the screen and I've even printed out a typical email conversation between my son and me. I combined this onto this layout showing how my son uses the computer in 2007.

I wonder what my grandchildren will think when they see this layout in 2037.

Of course, computers and cameras aren't the only part of technology that is changing. Do you listen to music on an iPod? Perhaps you are old-fashioned and still listen to music on CDs? I remember how excited I was when I got my first record player and I still have a box full of cassettes with nothing to play them on. Wouldn't it be great if I had a photo of that old record player that I could scrap along with a photo of my new iPod? I never had an 8-track player but it would also make an interesting layout.

A couple of years ago, I took my son to a telephone exhibit. The thing that impressed him the most was the pay phone. Remember the ones that you had to put a coin in to make a call? He had never seen one before. Remember when big phones were in style and the Mickey Mouse phone was the coolest thing? I hope that those Mickey phones had touch tone, because some of the networks don't support rotary dial anymore, and even if they did, my children wouldn't know how to use it.

Speaking of phones, Dad was one of the inventors of the cell phone. He had one before there was service in our town. He used to drive over to the shore to get service from New York City, just because he liked using the phone. Back then they were called car phones, because the portable ones didn't really exist. Dad had a suitcase phone; it had a telephone-handset-looking thing in the front seat and a suitcase that sat on the back seat. One time it got stolen, and then a week later it got returned. The suitcase had so much technology in it that it scared the thieves. This story would make a great layout if only I had a picture of the suitcase phone.

Unfortunately, we often threw out that old technology to make room for the new. I bet you threw out your Betamax after lightning struck your house, traveled down the cable, and fried it (yes, that really happened to some people). Once they've been thrown away, it's hard to take photos of the old technology and scrap the changes. Of course, if you want to create layouts about the history of a certain technology, it should be easy to find photos of the old items on the Web.

However, going forward we don't have these problems. We can use our digital cameras to take photos of the technology we use today and create layouts documenting the present. They may seem a bit obvious, but I'm sure they will make future generations laugh out loud.

So, get out your digital camera and pictures of your MP3 player, laptop, phone, and digital camera - for all you know that iPhone that seems so cool today might seem like the Beta or 8-track in the future. Just remember that if you print out emails, like I did in the layout above, and choose to post them here on Scrapjazz, don't forget to block out your personal information. After all, we do live in the age of identity theft and computer viruses, but perhaps that's a topic for the next technology layout.

Create your own technology layout with scrapbooking supplies from Scrapjazz.com.