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Birth
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My first experience with a computer
It was a Gateway computer (the one with the cow cube) and a CRT monitor. While I distinctly remember seeing and using our home computer, my parents said I was afraid to use it initially. Due to my father's line of work, it is likely we had some forme of dial-up internet, though I do not remember hearing the modem brsztstzstztstztsschrhshshshhhhhhhhbeepboopbopboopbeepboopbeep until circa 2006. -
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Received the Nintendo GameCube (GCN)
The GCN was the first video game console I ever used. Having received it for my sixth birthday, it was a huge leap in familiar technology - as the most complex tech I had used prior was a VCR. The fact that one could not only watch a digital motion picture but also be able to manipulate it was mind-boggling. While the games I owned were relatively simple, learning how to play them had doubtless effect on cognitive development. -
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Began learning how to type
Though I do not remember in exactly which grade we were taught to type, I remember vividly the software we used - that is, much of it except the name. The program was split up into units, starting with ASDFG. I did pretty well, but once we got to YUIOP, it required that we type at a rate of at least 60wpm. I never got to the bottom-row units and still struggled to type those letters until around 2016. -
Received the Nintendo Wii
In a similar vein to the GCN, I was flabbergasted by the new technology and better graphics of the Nintendo Wii. Just as I was amazed a digital environment could be manipulated, I was also amazed at the fact one could point a remote at the screen to find a cursor appearing right where it ought to. I would not be amused like this again until the re-release of Super Mario Galaxy on the Nintendo Switch (18 Sept 2020), which has the same mechanic with different, simpler technology. -
Apple iPad 2 released
I immediately wanted the original iPad when it was released. My mother said she would buy it for me if I got my maths grades up. After studying hard and bringing my grades up, we went to Best Buy - to discover that the iPad 2 had been released that day. It was amazing and bizarre to have what was essentially an iPod Touch, but larger and more powerful. Less than a week later, I accidentally dropped it screen-down on a tile floor in a barber shop. -
HTC Evo 3D released in the US
This Andriod phone was the first smartphone (and third cellphone) I ever owned. While cell phones themselves were not exactly phenomenal tech to me - both my parents had them - the fact one could have a cell phone that was entirely screen with no keyboard and minimal buttons was groundbreaking. Further, as this was at the height of 3D media, the fact I could take 3D photos and view them without glasses was amazing. I still miss flip phones, though. -
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Mobile Computer Labs!
In middle- and high school, my district began implementing mobile computer labs - that is, carts with a class worth of (depending on the school), laptops or Android tablets. Forgetting that internet was a thing, I was surprised to find that all the files on my school account were still accessible, despite not being connected to an ethernet network. While pretty revolutionary at the time, this would become the norm before and during COVID-19. -
Minecraft v1.6 released
This is the first version of Minecraft I ever played - having bought the game on the day of release for 1.6. While I did not find the game technologically groundbreaking, I noticed some cognitive changes after playing a while: since the game frequently uses maths (primarily multiples of 8), I began to learn and retain certain simple mental maths. Further, as one "block" is roughly 1m^3, accurate estimation of distance also began to develop. In HS, one class even used the game to teach coding. -
VRChat is released
VRChat is an online game in which you can interact with other people in various world "instances" such as social worlds, games, etc. While it heavily uses VR tech (headsets, controllers, 3-point tracking, etc), there is a cross-compatible desktop-only mode available. While not the first game of its kind, the fact it uses increasingly available VR tech is groundbreaking. In-game, one can utilise the full range of human communication, even facial expressions and body language.
Own pic; thumbs up -
Release of the Nintendo Switch
As the successor to the Wii U, I found the Nintendo Switch to be both a leap forward in technology, as well as a step backward (downgrading to one screen instead of two). Not only being the first console I did not receive for Christmas or my birthday (I got it the day after release), my reaction was different from before; instead of "wow! It cant get better than this!" I thought "huh... it cant get better than this" in reference to the leaps in tech development. I thought we hit a ceiling; -
First day at Marshall
This was also the day of the partial solar eclipse in Huntington. -
Used Sphero at Marshall
Sphero (sphero.com) are toy robots for which you can write code. For one undergraduate class, we were put into pairs and fiddled around with the coding before planning out lines of code to get our robot through an obstacle course. I specifically added a joke line where it intentionally ran into an obstacle and played the voiceline "ouch, that hurt," before returning to the track. While this was my second experience with coding, it was interesting to use other skills to map out the course. -
Nintendo releases the OLED Switch
I thought we hit a ceiling; I was wrong.
Nintendo released a version of the Switch with an OLED screen (in which each individual pixel is backlit, as opposed to the whole screen as a single unit). -
First time playing VRChat
I started playing VRChat, but in desktop mode. I would not get my own VR gear until January 2023. -
First day at Marshall (again)
Re-enrolled in the graduate programme; took my first class in Summer 2023. -
Submission date for this timeline
While I often reminisce about "back in my day when we had VHS tapes and Moses" - joking about how tech from merely 20 years ago seems ancient - I never actually attempted to think critically about the development of technology throughout my life. While I remember being amazed at its speed c. 2009-2013 then scared of its speed after 2016, it is bizarre to think of all the technology we have now that we didn't back in the 2000s. I started with a VCR and now have VRC.