About My Info Tech Computer 23 year History - What is your IT story?

by Helene Malmsio
(Maryborough, Australia)


Well, on this site I'm sharing lots of tips and strategies for working on the computer, especially for starting a Blog or an online internet based business and doing affiliate marketing, as well as website creation and blogging for everyone learning how to make money online.

Yesterday I published a couple of new pages here that talked about how to set up your social networking business profiles and pages for Google+ and Facebook and also the popular Twitter network.

It certainly has come a long way since I learned how to use my first computer... on the first Apple Mac pc in May 1990!

I was working in Community Skillshare and the manager of the project was a computer buff who decided to invest the bulk of our government funding on 10 Apple Macs to teach long-term unemployed people new computer skills.

Great idea, except that all employers at that time were using the Commodore and WP word processing programs and so there were not a lot of jobs for the graduates to go to except in graphic design where some forward thinking companies had invested in this first release software and hardware.

Now I had already been working in administration roles where I used my touch typing skills on electric typewriters, and I can tell you that I was not too excited about this new computer at all!!!

It was so easy to lose all your work when trying to edit for corrections etc. and Andre used so many convoluted steps to do even the simplest adjustments to the document that I was convinced this new thing would not take off at all - lol!

And it had a tiny 5inch screen I think...

But the beauty with this Mac software was that you could teach yourself how to use it... just pull down one window after another and you slowly educated yourself on the best ways for you to process your documents.

But since then I have always owned the standard PC, often built to order, simply because Microsoft brought in the pulldown window software, and the exclusive Apple software was such a small niche, you couldn't trade documents conveniently in business.

When I look at what is on my screen now I just can't believe how far we have come in 22 years! Graphic images were just a gleam in someone's eyes then.

I've just been looking in my graphics file as I thought I had an image of the old Apple Mac but I can't find it. If anyone has a picture of one, please let me know!

In 1996 I was contracted to the old CES federal government employment agency, and started to get used to the common MS pc and having to enter data into the Canberra computer systems and generally use what was the internet.

We didn't know it would lead to what we now take for granted as the 'world wide web'.. it was just what we had to do to report our activities and outcomes and get the latest news emails etc.

In 1997 I started working for a TAFE that had the internet connected, and like most universities they were ahead of the pack in using this newfangled 'internet' and for creating 'websites'

I HATED the internet!!!! With a vengeance!!!!!

When I had to go online and SEARCH for anything or anyone, I got results that might as well have been a Chinese phone book.

Utterly, and totally useless. That is why Yahoo and Lycos and the other Directories found such a profitable niche business... just sorting out all these websites into an online 'phone book' so that we could find what we were actually looking for.

By 2000 my business "Strategic Traineeship Advisory Services" needed to be on top of the web, government sites, data entry into the contractor data banks etc etc so I evolved along with the web.

In 2004 I started my first personal 'self-help-resources' website, using SiteSell hosting. It did well, and earned me good money from adsense (before all the useless Adsense sites flooded the net).

After trying everything else in the past 9 years in website building and hosting I still ADORE the services included in their comprehensive SBI hosting and website building pack.

Since then I have built around 20 or so websites with SBI for myself and for clients.

I then learned all about SEO and SEM and did very, very well at getting my sites in the first page of Google SERP... in some cases I had my sites and web2 properties controlling the first page, and up to 10 pages of search results for the targeted keyword.

But like everything else to do with internet marketing, the black hat scum take over the good web2 properties and start using software for backlinking and linkwheels and destroy something that was fair and healthy in marketing your websites, and turned it into gaming the search engines.

So now I don't do a lot of SEO... I just create good helpful content on a few platforms and hope that my visitors will want to come back again later.

*Hint - hint* If you like what you see on this site so far, be sure to subscribe to my ezine (look for the waving figure!) so that you get updates about the latest content and the gifts I give away every week.

And now that I'm retired and living off a limited investment income, I need more help than ever with generating an online business retirement income!

More than anything, using this SiteSell website system is the only one that is FUN to work on as well as profitable, and as you can see, this latest website you are looking at now is also created with their tools and hosting.

No need for all those WP widgets, plug-ins and apps .... and hackers can't get near your site, I LOVE SBI.

They are not the cheapest hosting service, but they are the BEST.

Anyway, on the IT equipment side of things, I now still have 3 computers in my home office... 2 desktops and 1 laptop.

My first computer "Robbie" only had a 2Gig memory capacity. I suspect that wristwatches have more than that now!

I used him last at the Strategic offices in 2004 dedicated for email and internet use, while the other computers did data entry and WP. Now I can't even run the (space hungry) internet on him... just word processing.

I still have that first personal computer stored away as a fond friend that earned me hundreds of thousands of dollars income over the many years that Robbie and I worked together - I'll never give him away or let him go to the tip. (So I actually have 4 computers in my home office - lol!)

Silly I know, but he NEVER, EVER, broke down or let me down... unlike every new computer bought ever since! (He just ran out of memory... or developed Alzheimer in his old age)

They make computers to be disposable nowadays, and their hard drives are so fast that the discs have to spin too fast and get damaged much easier.

**WHAT IS YOUR I.T. STORY ?????***

What computer did you first learn to use? What year did you learn?

Were you at work or did you invest in your own 'personal computer' at home - or were you a student?

Have you built your own website or blog yet? What hosting service do you prefer?

Tell me your story about braving the new world of word processing, internet, world wide web, affiliate marketing and so on... can't wait to hear!

Just click the COMMENTS link below to open up your submission box and start typing.

If you have a blog or website to share with us below, just add it in your comment as a html link - Thanks!


Comments for About My Info Tech Computer 23 year History - What is your IT story?

Click here to add your own comments

Computer History
by: Tiffany Dow

What computer did you first learn to use?

Seems like it was some Tandy TRS80 or something? LOL It was an ancient white box with a green screen.

What year did you learn?

1980s

Were you in business or did you invest in your own 'personal computer'?

Oh no I was a student.

Have you built your own website or blog yet?

Yeppers ;) The Tiffany Dow Blog!

What hosting service do you prefer?

Hostgator baby.

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Thank you Tiff for dropping by to say hello!

What a baby you are... you were just a STUDENT when computers came out... that makes me feel so OLD - lol!!

I'm a big fan of SiteSell website hosting as you know from this thread, but Tiff is a firm believer in Hostgator for WordPress sites and blogs, and she has a great deal I've posted a link to above, where she will even instal your blog for you if you buy your hosting through her link, so go check out her offer!

Thanks for leaving your first ever Comment here Tiffany, look forward to seeing you here again soon -lol!

- Helene
Oh goodness!
by: MamaRed

I started in IT support in '83 when the DEC wordprocessors were freshly minted from the factory.

There has been so much water under the bridge since then...holy smokes

(and I'm with ya, despised the Internet AND email actually even tho' I could indent lines in code (.in anyone).

Talk about the proverbial "we've come a long way baby!"

MamaRed blog (with sexy backends) - lol!

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We've come a long way Baby!

Yes, MamaRed you are so right... what a long way we've come!

I remember working in exec admin at a very large co. in the very, very, early 1980's and they had a 'secretarial pool' where all the dictaphone letters dictated through the day went to 'be wordprocessed' by these mysterious people in that mysterious place, while we just banged away at our electric typewriters...

Catch up with you soon - Helene
From Commodore 64 to Mainframes to Laptops
by: Debi J

My first computer was the Commodore 64. My mom bought it for my brother for Christmas when they came out in what, 1982?

I remember reading the instructions & getting frustrated trying to make a "bird" fly across the screen.

Atari was MUCH more fun. In fact, I still have THAT! :)

The year I graduated H.S.(1982), they brought in computers.

So the closest I got to a personal computer between then & my college days as a computer programming major was a cash register at the local McDonald's & grocery stores I worked for.

I chose computer programming because it was good money and, more importantly, I knew my son was going to be exposed to them so I figured I may as well get a head start.

I started with DOS & mainframes, and eventually have moved thru all the Windows systems (have used a few Macs but I just keep buying Windows).

For me, Win XP & Win 7 have been the best. They can keep Vista and Win 8!! :)

DareToGetPersonal.com

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Hi Debi -
Wow you really did get the bit (or terrabyte) between the teeth with all that IT & Programming training!

I have only ever bumbled along learning as I went... never felt confident about learning the 'propeller head' stuff to do with hardware and software.

So did you find it helpful to "get a head start" on your son as you suggested was you motivation?

I do wish that when they keep releasing these updates, that they didn't throw the baby away with the bathwater... I just get used to one program and they throw it out!!!

Thanks for stopping by Debi, its very much appreciated!

- Helene
My Computer History
by: Michelle

What computer did you first learn to use? What year did you learn?

OK. I TRIED to learn to work a computer in 1973 in Algebra class. We had to design 'cards' to solve a simple math problem. My set of cards failed miserably and I swore I would never use a computer.

Were you at work or did you invest in your own 'personal computer' at home - or were you a student?

Then, I used one in college. It was a Mac in a large bank of Macs.

Have you built your own website or blog yet?

I have a blog called At Home With The Waxlers.

What hosting service do you prefer?

I'm using Blogger right now.

Tell me your story about braving the new world of word processing.

Out of necessity, I had to find a better job. I took 2 courses at a community college and absorbed everything I learned.

Then I BS'd my way into OJT as a temp secretary and learned more and became who I am today in the job world.

I love these computers!


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LOL Michelle, there's nothing like 'fake it til you make it' to get an ideal new job!

1973 - wow - that was right at the cutting edge, creating the punchcards telling the computer what to do... no wonder you hated computers at that first meeting!

Good thing that you love them now... I have a hot and cold relationship with them - depending on whether they are working or crashing on me - lol!

Love your blog - thought about you today when I watered my baby Willow tree in the garden.

Helene
RE: From Commodore 64 to Mainframes to Laptops
by: Debi J

When I started on my degree, I swore for the first 3 months that I was going to blow up the University's entire computer system.

And I feel the same way about the geek stuff. There are 2 types of programmers...those of us who do it for the money & then go home on the weekend to relax, and those who love the craft and spend their weekends at coding conventions! Did I mention I did it for the money? :)

As for my son... yes, I got a head start on him initially cause he was 4 when I went back to school. Now, he's my go-to guy when I lock up my laptop. LOL


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I'm glad that your long-term strategy worked and you now have home help for IT!
The Long Road Behind Us
by: Poppa Cas

Greetings to each and all.
My history with IT started in 1952 with the old punched card machines. That was back in the days you wired boards to do your calculating.
Will not attempt listing the main frames, too many.

Really just signing in here to acknowledge how well am enjoying your site and your excellent work here.

Since have designed sites, systems etc, acknowledge to you the hard work here is appreciated and recognize the amount of time you have devoted.----Thank you so much.

~*~*~*~*~

Thank you for leaving a comment Poppa Cas, and for your kind feedback on the site, it is very much appreciated!

I'd love to know more about your computer experiences and tall tales - lol - and please do feel free to add your comments on any other of the pages here that strike your interest!

Do you have a website or blog that you work on at the moment?

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