Tech Tidbit – 46-years helping you with your technology needs
March marks the month that I have been working with technology professionally for 46 years! It seems like yesterday that as a 16-year-old high school student I got my first part-time job (Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings) talking to people about technology. In those days that meant the Apple II and Commodore Pet. Even back then a lot of people were interested in exploring these new "Personal Computers". The problem was the "software" industry was a fledging industry and it was hard to know what existed and what was any good. People wanted the computer to do something. I turned away sale after sale because I lacked software.
I went home one night and told my dad that I thought I turned away around $100,000 in computer sales just because I had no software. That equated to about 35 computers back then.
My dad said there was a new conference in Las Vegas called COMDEX where computer vendors were going to be. He hopped on a plane and went and met vendors. Our business was born and the rest is history.
However, March 15, 1980, was an equally special day. It was the day I hung out with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak together at an Apple Core user's group meeting at Moscone Center in San Francisco at the famous West Coast Computer Faire.
This was truly the beginning of the beginning of the computer industry we know today. My 18-year-old self had no idea who these people were. This was a pure computer geek extremely small gathering. I was sitting in the front row waiting for it to begin. The host announced that Steve Wozniak was also in the room. Steve was literally sitting next to me shoulder to shoulder in his little HP Engineer V-neck sweater. Very shy, but clearly the technical brains behind Apple. In walks Steve Jobs standing 3 feet in front of me talking directly with me and the few others in the room.
He was a scruffy, 25-year-old, Southern Californian. Red and black flannel shirt faded jeans full of holes, and open toed sandals. This is way before selfies and digital cameras. I really didn't know who he was. HIs brief and enthusiastic talk can be summarized as, "totally wow man we created a computer company and it is so cool!" Very shortly after that talk his international fame started with the Steve Jobs Bicycle full-page Wall Street Journal ad.
I was there when it all began seeing the industry be born first-hand and I am still around today having as much fun now that I had way back in the day - still helping all of you with your technology needs.
It is a privilege to work with all of you.
Thanks for that.
However, there is a lot more to do and as so many amazing things are happening now and sadly at the same time so many very bad things are going on.
March marks the month that I have been working with technology professionally for 46 years! It seems like yesterday that as a 16-year-old high school student I got my first part-time job (Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings) talking to people about technology. In those days that meant the Apple II and Commodore Pet. Even back then a lot of people were interested in exploring these new "Personal Computers". The problem was the "software" industry was a fledging industry and it was hard to know what existed and what was any good. People wanted the computer to do something. I turned away sale after sale because I lacked software.
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