The first time I realised that technology was great

I try not to start my blogs with the same words that are in the title otherwise it sounds all a bit like ‘Just a minute’, that fabulous show on Radio 4 and now on TV(Saturday morning), not that that is a bad thing but here goes nothing.

The first time I realised that technology was great was when I bought my first Psion, a computer that you could hold in your hand.  It was silver grey, futuristic, had a small monochromatic screen and a keyboard and it made a satisfying pop when you took the protective case off.  It was great. Suddenly I could do things in my hand that I never thought were possible.  Suddenly I could do things in my hand that I never knew I needed to do.  I could work out how long it would take me to pay off my loans using the spread sheet though I still haven’t paid them off and it came with apps, things you could buy in small grey wedges that slotted into the side of the device and made it even cleverer.  I can’t remember any of them now or what they actually did but my father had one as well and they just felt so cool.  I spent hours on it.

It all seems so long ago now  but for some reason I have kept it for posterity in my draw at work, perhaps to remind me of more innocent times or just because it was great.

But the first time that I realised that technology was really great was when I traded up for an iPaq personal desktop assistant or PDA (was it made by Compaq?).  It all came back to me when one of the presenters mentioned them at Thinking Digital 2013 and had to explain to the younger members of the audience that there was a time pre-smartphone.

My iPaq was a jump up from the Psion, a step change, a quantum leap forward for mankind and my modus operandi.  It had email and a calendar and it could sync (yes we used to have to sync) with my desk top computer and so I could carry it around and answer all of my emails when I was away from the office, on the train, on a plane, in the car and even in the bath (but don’t try this at home).  It was really great as it was the first true step for me towards leaving my desk behind.  Of course it didn’t have wireless or 3G (or any G for that matter) as these things were yet to be invented but it was the precursor of all of these things.  My workplace revolution had to start somewhere and it started there, not a jump into cyber space but definitely a move onto its launch platform.

My iPaq changed my life for ever and in a positive way but it was the Psion that started the journey that lead me to my latest smart phone with all of its incredible power and capability.  Both devices were great, unbelievably great and they now lie in my draw like fossils that tell of the evolutionary journey that we are all on.