The Computer Generation

Back in Arizona State University days as part of my Accounting major I took computer programing and we learned about two languages in use then, Fortran and Cobol. Doing our lab work, we had to create certain programs and I remember those large stacks of "punch cards" that had to be kept in the correct order. We would then go to the card reader and input our program to test it. It was tedious but rather exciting when the program worked as anticipated.


Then later in my own small CPA business, I came across a "programmable printing calculator" that was rather large but you could run repetitive programs that you created to get the result of common accounting problems. Very cool. That machine did not last long as it was stolen in a robbery. When it was finally recovered by the police I got it back, but the need for it had moved on. I think about that time came the HP 12 calculator which I still have and will continue using back home. I have two of them, but that is another story.


The next stage was that real computer, the Apple II which would run spreadsheets and word processing. We were using IBM Selectric typewriters in the office for financial reports at the time but once again we were robbed! They took the typewriters but I'm sure they did not know what to do with the computer and so left it in my office. The typewriters were never recovered but even so, the typists did not want them back as they were using the Apple II and found the convenience of correcting in the machine as well as other benefits. So, we entered the computing age with new PC's.


Client computing had become the standard but the small PC's weren't ready for that yet so we purchased a large computer as big as a refrigerator which used huge disks. I think one of us had to take one home every night as a backup! It was cumbersome but worked for some time as the PC capacity began to soar.


After years of growth and the use of the PC's expanded, we passed through stages of problems and expansion but it was certainly the way to do auditing and accounting. About that time, the portables came into use. I remember one of the first ones being as large as a suitcase and about as heavy. I checked in at a flight one day but at arrival, it came out of the chute with it's attached keyboard hanging loose and had some damage. The baggage handlers certainly had no idea what it was nor how fragile it was. Surprisingly it still worked. Later at the Phoenix airport I could not get it to work at the security check and so Shirlyn had to come to the airport and take it home! That was well before 9/11!


Now after retiring from that type of office work, my wife and I at the suggestion of one of our daughters-in-law went with Apple MacBook Pro machines and what a blessing that was. So user friendly and secure and the learning curve has been relatively easy. We love the programs that came with it and while at first I thought we would need to use a few old MicroSoft standbys, that was a mistake and now we are all Apple. Thank you Steve Jobs.


Now Steve Jobs is retiring as CEO of Apple, Inc. and I think he will be remembered as one of those inventors on the level of Thomas Edison or the Wright Brothers having changed the world. 


Now I am an intermediate level blogger and continue to discover new things that make life pleasant and somewhat productive. Things in this area do not seem to slow down, but keeping up is less of a challenge than in the past. This blog is evidence of that. In future Blog posts I will discuss some of the tools we have discovered and now use that may be of interest to you as a reader.