Life & Times of the digitally inclined

Technology comes at us in waves, and sometimes in the form of fads. I've been using computers since I was in the fourth grade, and that was when AOL still came in the form of a floppy disk in the mail. Needless to say, at 23 years old, I've seen the changes technology has undergone; I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and I've also noticed how it changes people and an individuals perception. My first introduction to modern technology was when my Dad bought a computer when I was about 8 years old. Along with the computer, he also bought a fax machine. At this time, both of those items were the hot things on the market, and I was only using the computer for games, and my Dad was using both the computer and the fax machine to get his business started. There was no high-speed internet, so we connected to the internet through the dial-up connection within the land-line phone, and there wasn't nearly as much stuff to find on the internet as there is now. I immediately took a liking to the computer and started using it every other day whenever my Dad wasn't using it. I never really saw my Dad using the computer that much, so all my knowledge just came from genuinely pressing keys and clicking the mouse. A couple years later, AOL started to become more and more popular, and more and more families started to have computers in their homes, which meant more kids my age would be able to access the net as well. Towards the end of the millennium is when I started getting a little more handy with the computer. By this time, I had an AOL email account, an AIM handle, and I was full on searching for gross things on the Internet to show my friends at school each day. Needless to say, I was knee deep into the cyber world and since most kids my age at the time were not using the net as much as I was, I slowly acquired the title of 'computer geek'. It never bothered me though, because I wasn't really into the actual computer itself, but just more-so the capabilities of what the technology had to offer; and at the end of the day I just considered myself a fan. Along comes Y2K and everyone is in panic because of the fear that the computers that run the world aren't scheduled to recognize the year 2000 because there's a "2" instead of a "1" in front of the year. I have to admit I was a little scared because of all the rumors and such going around, but it never really surprised me to find out it was a hoax. If technology was so advanced to actually produce computers and then the internet, I don't think something as minor as a number change would make the whole world self-destruct. At this point, my family had moved into a new house and it was 2001; a year after Y2K and the same year high-speed internet had become available. I'm not sure if it was available before this time, but this was when it was available in my area, so I signed up and took on the bill with the help of my parents. Shortly after, I got a laptop for Christmas and in the same day, I downloaded Napster. Along with that download of Napster, I remember downloading 300+ songs, because I was just so excited about having fast internet. About a year later in 2002, I started my own e-commerce website selling sneakers. I was always into collecting sneakers, and through this hobby, I found a steady supplier who I could start my business through. I was 15 at the time, and with the help of some good friends, my site reached the 3rd spot in the apparel listings on Alexa (a web traffic company) in the country. This was my first real introduction to the net and seeing first hand how powerful it was. From my computer at my house, I could make my products available to people all over the world. Although I have never really used the internet to be anyone other than myself, there was no way I could be able to run a business and let people know that it was ran by a 15 year-old. That said, I quickly picked up on how to present myself in the most professional/adult manner through the internet. Instead of using slang and short words, I'd spell everything out. Nowadays, no one would throw the word computer geek around, because if you look around, computers pretty much run everything. From the social networks, to the smart-phones, technology has become the cool thing. And in this day and age, no matter what anyone says, it's very important for people to stay up on certain terms, events and products that are associated with advancements in technology. To me, that's what it means to be digitally literate; if someone brings up Twitter, you're not completely lost in the conversation. To sum it all up, technology is changing, and at a rapid rate. The way people communicate has changed because of technology, and the way people operate and function in daily life has changed because of technology. I don't know what's next, but I do know that staying relevant regardless of age, while all these changes happen is just something we will all have to face one day.