Experienced & Knowledgeable: A Journey Through Technology
Introduction
How have times changed? The first computer I saw had 5K of RAM, and when powered on, it displayed 3,583 bytes of free memory thats 3.5Kb, remembering 8 bits to a byte. That was the VIC-20, a system that introduced many of us to computing.
Then came the Commodore 64, followed by the Amiga 500 and 2000, complete with the 68020 processor and the 68881 co-processor. The computing world was evolving rapidly, and I was along for the ride.
My first PC was a Pentium 90 (P90) sitting in a computer shop, a marvel at the time. I can’t have been 25, but I remember it clearly. That P90 had Imagine 3D installed, making animation significantly faster than the Amiga ever could. It felt like the future had arrived. I made a man swinging back and forth on a swing and it rendered before I left work that day.
The Evolution of Computing
Life took its turn. I worked in retail computing for years, then shifted to system building and technical support. As a manager and business owner, I witnessed the rapid development of processors:
🔹Intel 8086 - ill skip that, however I sold it.
🔹Intel 186,286,386 - was not really interested and stuck with an Amiga personally while working in Computer Shops(Shacks)
🔹Intel 486,586,686, I remember the others without MMU or FPU.
🔹 Pentium - WOW I can run Imagine 3d, better than the Amiga did.
🔹 Pentium Pro, paving the way for workstations and servers.
🔹Intel Pentium MMX and its promise of better multimedia 166mhz was amazing at the time.
🔹AMD3000+ Oh 2Ghz and lost a RAM slot; that was that, and it was very short-lived.
🔹 Core2 revolutionizing efficiency and performance.
🔹 Intel i9, pushing boundaries we never imagined decades ago.
What computing couldn’t recognize back then was the unstoppable demand for more memory, storage, and speed. We think the new is fast until it is a few weeks old then the newest seems a valid upgrade. At what cost?
Storage & Growth: The Unstoppable Cycle
The notion that 640K of RAM was enough for anyone was laughable then and even more so now. Storage needs continue to expand, and no matter how much space we have, we always need more. The real challenge is managing this growth intelligently rather than blindly consuming it.
Technology doesn’t slow down, but we, as consumers, should. The industry thrives on upgrades and incremental improvements, but at what cost? Many businesses and consumers overlook the delicate balance between progress and sustainability in favor of the latest shiny upgrade.
The Shift: From Gaming to Social Media Dominance
Technology hasn’t just changed hardware—it has reshaped how people live and interact. There was a time when families played games together. Now, social media consumes more time than gaming ever did.
🔹 Parents used to join in on gaming nights playing something like Monopoly on a board with the whole family sitting around the game. Now, many are scrolling while their kids play alone.
🔹 Kids used to be ruled by their parents—now, many are governed by their screens.
🔹 The world has become digitally absorbed, but at what cost?
The balance between technology as a tool and technology as an addiction is getting harder to distinguish.
Looking Ahead: The Future is Closer Than We Think
It won’t be long before our Raspberry Pi is the size of a stick of gum (again, looking at Gumstix). The push for smaller, faster, and more efficient technology will continue. Still, at some point, we, as consumers, have to decide when enough is enough.
🔹 The endless cycle of upgrades feeds industries more than it serves users.
🔹 Those who profit from consumer spending expect us to keep buying more.
🔹 Maybe it’s time to slow down and rethink technology use.
We are in 2025, but blink, and it’ll be 2055 before we know it. The question isn’t whether technology will advance—it’s whether we will advance with it responsibly.
Final Thoughts
Experience has taught me that technology never stands still. From the VIC-20 to the Intel i9/Latest CPU/GPU/NPU, from gaming together to social media isolation, the pace of progress is relentless. But it’s up to us to ensure that progress serves us rather than vice versa.
Are we bias now? Intel vs AMD? I remember an argument back in the 90's about Amiga vs Atari ST...
🚀 Adapt, learn, and grow—but never forget to question where it’s all heading.