What geek could resist this?
from Mon via scholarly mommy who got it here…

1. Do you remember when you saw your first computer? When did you actually use one? What about having your own? Do you own a laptop? (PC or Mac?) Have you gone wireless at home yet?

I first used a computer in 7th grade. We had a couple of Tandys (trs80s) with monochrome monitors, hooked up to cassette players in our “gifted” classroom. I played haunted house on these and programmed in BASIC. We also had an Apple. I’m not sure which model, but it was exciting because it was color. When I went off to college, my dad bought me an IBM clone. It had no hard drive. Instead I loaded programs using 5 1/4″ floppies. I’ve pretty much continued to upgrade throughout my life. I don’t have a laptop of my own, but have the use of one through the school. I think my next computer will be an Apple laptop. We are completely wireless at home. In fact, we just upgraded our wireless network.

2. When did you first go online and/or use email? Who did you email back then? How did the internet change your life? When did you discover blogging? What about your home internet connection – is it dial-up, DSL, cable?

I first went online in 1990 when I went to graduate school. I basically only emailed my fellow grad students. The big thing for me then was usenet. I was big into several newsgroups, one for the Simpsons and one for pinball among a few others. The internet has completely changed my life. In fact, that’s what I wrote about for my “She’s Such a Geek” essay (rejected, but I’m thinking about posting it here). I heard about blogging in 2001 and read the Invisible Adjunct and jill/txt. I didn’t start blogging myself until 2004. We’ve had broadband internet access since you could have broadband, mostly because of Mr. Geeky’s work.

3. Do you remember your first VCR? What about a video camera (there were some bulky ones back in the 80s and 90s) and home videos?

I remember my dad bought a VCR for us some time in the 80s, probably 82 or 83. We didn’t have a video camera though. Mr. Geeky and I got one when we got married.

4. When did you switch from VCR to DVD? How did it change your video viewing experience? Do you use TiVo or any such “contraption” to tape TV shows? Do you use Netflix or some other internet-based DVD “renting” service?

For Valentine’s day in 95, I got Mr. Geeky a DVD player. That didn’t change us that much, mainly because we were a little ahead of the curve. There weren’t that many DVDs out to watch. Tivo really changed the way we watch tv. We got one in 2002 for Mr. Geeky’s birthday. At first I was skeptical, but now I don’t know how we lived without it. And now that it does podcasts, I love it even more. We also have netflix, but don’t use as much as we probably could.

5. What about music? Did you enjoy listening favorite music in Long Plays or did you prefer cassette tapes? When did you buy your fist CD player and switched to CDs? Did you abandon them (and turned to downloaded music) for MP3 players or Ipods or do you still buy CDs? (I’m not going to ask or comment about “illegal” music activities in the internet, even though it was an exciting innovation, lest one of us gets arrested for it 🙂

I usually went for whole albums, getting attached to artists rather than individual songs. I got a CD player when I went off to college. When I got my iPod a couple of years ago, I imported all my CDs and I’ve sold off a lot of them. I’m not happy with the DRM stuff that’s being incorporated to downloaded music, but I do like purchasing music this way.

6. Do you own and use a cell phone? Do you think it’s useful or just annoying?(Did you always have a telephone in your house growing up? Did you have a phone in your own room?)

Yes, I own a smartphone. I like having a cellphone even though not that many people call me on it.

7. When did you first buy a digital camera? What kind was it (3.2, 4.0, 5.0 mega-pixels or better)? Did you start taking more pictures or were you a photo aficionado before then? What about a digital video camera?

We got our first digital camera when Mr. Geeky got his Ph.D. (do you see a trend?). I got him a new one for Christmas last year. We got ourselves a digital video camera last year also. I enjoy taking digital still photos more than video although I want to do some experimenting with video blogging in the next few months. I’d like to get my own digital still camera, like an ELF or something. Something I can keep in my pocket. There’ve been a lot of times when I’ve wanted to snap a quick picture.

8. What about televisions? Have you already embraced the new technologies, such as HDTV, plasma, and flat screen? (On the other hand, you wouldn’t remember black & white TVs, would you?)

Here’s where we are technologically lacking. We have a 15-year-old tv. We’ve been talking for years about replacing it. It’s only just now getting anywhere near our price range.