What was the very first personal technology you owned?
I was thinking the other day about the technology in my life and how it has shaped me. That took longer than I thought; several days in fact. I became fascinated (actually obsessed) about the lineage of electronic devices I’ve owned over the years and that prompted me to ask,
“What was the very first personal technology I owned?”
My quest had a simple premise:
1. It had to have something to do with the electronic medium and connected me to the world in some way.
2. It had to be mine. I owned it.
In the summer of 1958 our family moved across town to Earlington, a neighborhood on the west side of Renton. I was 8 years old. That Christmas I received a present from Santa that I’ve never forgotten. I didn’t realize until now that it was my very first personal technology.
The HearEver Germanium Crystal Rocket Radio – 1958
I can’t begin to express what a revealing process this was. I traced a line of technology from now directly back to this beginning. It all began here with my very own crystal rocket radio. This is where technology and I hooked up. As I recall, I could only get 3 or 4 radio stations, the strongest signal was KJR AM Seattle. I listened to a lot of Doo-Wop, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Everly Brothers, and other top 100 hits of 1958.
The important thing to me, while peeling my life’s glass onion, is making the connection to a larger world and the role technology played. It’s not about the toy or the gizmo; it’s about what they represent, what we use them for and how that influences us. I spent a lot of evenings lying in my bed at night (when I should have been sleeping) with my imagination a blaze. I didn’t understand how it worked. It just did, it was mine, and somehow I was more a part of everything by having it.
What an awesome piece of technology when you think about it. The crystal radio uses no tubes or transistors, nor does it have a separate power source. They are passive receivers and run on the energy they get from the radio waves themselves.
Now that’s what I’m talking about… crystal power!
Looking backward or forward in time is often a funny thing. It can be full of surprises and discovery. I was walking through our new Renton Uwajimaya store yesterday past the inside BECU branch. They have a PC just off the lobby for online banking. A dad was sitting there trying to keep his 3 small children from scattering while his wife was in line. As I walked pass them I noticed his attention was full on two of them. But, unseen and behind dad was the youngest, 14 months at the very most in training pants. He was stretching with all his might, pounding the keyboard with his tiny little hands, staring up at the monitor with wide eyes and great expectation.
I juxtaposed thoughts about my life and his life with technology and the news, “Will Apple’s iPad kill the Kindle?” What an amazing time to begin the journey.
“What was the very first personal technology you owned?”
1 week ago
