About Me
The Beginning
In case you're wondering I'm 77 years old. Yes, for many of you I may be old enough to be your grandfather. Along with all those years comes a lot of experience, education and knowledge. I didn't get all these gray hairs just sitting around doing nothing.
My first exposure to computers came back when I was in the fifth grade (1959). My dad was a research scientist. One day he took me with him on an errand. We entered an old looking military building. Inside the entrance there was a whole wall of lights and switches. Because I'd seen science fiction films as well as news reports on computers of the time I immediately knew this was what I was seeing in the building's lobby. It was a control panel for a computer. We were met immediately and stopped by a uniformed guard as we walked through the door. The guard looked very concerned. He called my dad my name and asked about me. My dad replied, "He's too young and won't remember anything he sees." So the guard let us in.
Well, my dad was wrong. As I stood there on the lobby I could see a hallway to my left. Someone had left the curtain covering the doorway open but the one on my right was closed. Down that long left hand hallway the walls were covered with racks holding vacuum tubes. I knew what they were because I'd seen my dad change them to fix our television occasionally. Some of the tubes were glowing and others weren't. While my dad talked to the guard and someone else who came out to see him I observed the vacuum tubes along the hallway and noticed that they changed. Some started glowing while others stopped. I must admit that I don't remember how rapidly the tubes changed. I also observed some lights on the panel in front of me changing as well. Since we were only in the building for a few minutes I really wasn't able to observe much but, unknown to my dad until many years later, I did know what I was seeing and still remember what I saw. Because my dad was always very concerned about his security clearance I've never disclosed the location of that computer. Let's just say you'd be very surprised to know where it was.
It wasn't until my third year in college that I actually started working with a computer. The college I attended had one of the largest computers available to educational institutions at the time. It was part of a national network of college and university computers (the beginning of the Internet). I remember the many trips I made over the following two years taking in a stack of punch cards and hoping to get some results from the computer the next day. Returning to the front desk was always met with anticipation. Either I got my results from the student behind the desk or I got a stack of blank paper. The latter happened when the program I was running didn't work and the operator stopped the high speed printer when he noticed nothing was being printed out. Suffice it to say that I had an ample supply of paper for taking class notes those two years. Unless I needed some specific paper for something I didn't have to buy any. While I used the computer and learned a little about programming one most of the computer programs I used were supplied by my professors.
In 1977 the Tandy Radio Shack company started selling their first TRS-80 Microcomputer System (later they added Model I to the name when the Model II was introduced). Shortly after the introduction of the TRS-80 Microcomputer System some of the high school teachers in the school district I was teaching in started using these computers in their classrooms. They and some of their students wrote some programs that were aimed at elementary students. To see if the computers along with these programs were suitable for elementary school classrooms they arranged to drop them off to selected classrooms within the school district. My principal, unbeknownst to me, signed me up. One day while I was teaching my sixth graders one of the high school teachers showed up in my classroom with the computer and programs on cassettes. He told me I needed to attend a class on how to use them at a specific time and place after school the following week. Of course before I left school that afternoon I had a fairly long discussion with my principal but in the end agreed to be part of the experiment. Today, I must admit, this one thing lead to some outstanding opportunities in my teaching career including a lot of local, state and even national recognition of my eventual expertise in using computers in classrooms.
The Next Step
That first computer was extremely simple. The TRS-80 had a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, the Zilog Z80 processor, 4 KB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) standard memory, floating-point Level I BASIC language interpreter in read-only memory (ROM), 64-character per line video monitor, and a starting price of $600 (equivalent to US $3114 in 2024). A cassette tape drive for program storage was included in the original package. Yes, the programs were kept on cassette tapes and were fed into the computer when the recorder play button was pressed. The cassette recorder was the only way available at the time to store computer programs. The only other way to program these computers was of couse to type the program into the computer's memory using the keyboard. Since the computer was equipped to understand the BASIC language that's what we used to program them. That meant that if I was going to use one I had to also learn BASIC. I was able to learn enough by taking some classes sponsored by Radio Shack and the school district to create some of my own programs. At first they weren't very sophisticated but as I continued working with BASIC the programs I wrote became much more complex.
Shortly after getting started with my TRS-80 I also was exposed to the Apple ][ through the county office of education which held some beginning classes that I attended. The first Apple ][ computers went on sale on June 10, 1977. They included an MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1.022,727 MHz, 4 KiB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of monochrome, uppercase-only text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor or on a regular TV set. The original retail price of the computer with 4 KiB of RAM was $1,298 (equivalent to $6,737 in 2024) and $2638 (equivalent to $13692 in 2024) with the maximum 48 KB of RAM. To reflect the computer's color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing had rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple's corporate logo until early 1998. Perhaps most significantly, the Apple ][ was a catalyst for personal computers across many industries; it opened the doors to software marketed at consumers.
To be honest here, I found both computer systems to be very similar. Other than a few different commands programming them was very similar as well. While our school district stuck with the Tandy Radio Shack line of computers the county office of education plus many of the other school districts in the county and surrounding counties went with Apple. As time played out this isolation from what the majority of what other school districts were doing caused a lot of problems for me but it also exposed me to a wider variety of computers.
When Tandy Radio Shack announced their Model III in 1980 I was asked by the school district if I wanted one permanently in my classroom. It would be in exchange for assisting with other school district employee training and assistance. So in exchange for having a computer in my classroom the school district wanted me to be available to the school district after my teaching assignment as needed by the school district. At the time I jumped at the chance and quickly signed an agreement with the school district. My only renumeration was having a computer for my classroom that I could also take home when necessary. That computer still relied on a cassette recorder for several years. TRS-80 Model 4 was released in April 1983 as the successor to the TRS-80 Model III. Since the casing as well as some of the internals were the same as the Model III the school district agreed to upgrade mine with a new mother board and keyboard. That meant that I finally had my first computer with a disk drive because the school district also agreed to add one to my computer. It ran on TRSDOS. That computer served me well. Because of being involved with computers at the school district level and some exposure with the county office of education I was suddenly becoming known for my computer knowledge and skills in the district, county plus some of the surrounding counties.
Formal Computer Education and Teaching Computers in Education Courses Starts
In order to become more proficient with computers and their uses in education I started taking courses at our local university, California Lutheran University. In those classes we used the new Apple IIe computers. The Apple IIe, introduced in 1983, is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stands for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were formerly only available as upgrades or add-ons in earlier models. Improved expandability combined with the new features made for a very attractive general-purpose machine to first-time computer shoppers. As the last surviving model of the Apple II computer line before discontinuation, and having been manufactured and sold for nearly 11 years with relatively few changes, the IIe earned the distinction of being the longest-lived computer in Apple's history. The Apple IIe was widely adopted for education and often educators thought the the "e" was for education.
Obviously those classes at California Lutheran University greatly broadened my exposure to something other than the TRS-80. I gained a lot of experience and knowledge. Even more importantly people at the university were getting to know me. When the university offered a Computers in Education Certificate program for those who completed a specific set of classes I signed up. In addition to taking courses at the university they also hired me as an adjunct instructor to teach continuing education courses in their computer education department.
I'm now teaching full time, taking courses on computers at the university, teaching at the university, helping teachers and administrators within the school district with computers and then the State of California added a new category of teaching titled Mentor Teachers. This new program allowed school districts to pay teachers extra money for their time to mentor other teachers in specific areas of expertise. As a result of my education and experience with computers in the classroom my school district added the position of Mentor Teacher to my classification with the district and agreed to pay me an extra stipend for my extra time. Needless to say I was very busy during this time period. Oh, and Pam and I were also very busy singing in a church choir too.
One of the things I did during this time that really helped was to buy my own computer. Since I had the TRS-80 at school I decided to go with Apple. They had just introduced their Apple //c in 1984. Apple proclaimed the new machine was proof of the company's long-term commitment to the Apple II series and its users, despite the recent introduction of the Macintosh. It was a fantastic little computer that was somewhat portable. To make it more portable I bought a special bag that held the computer, power supply and monitor. That allowed me to easily move the computer between home and work. Thinking back on that time, while the computer and bag were expensive, they were important keys to my success. It was especially important for my university courses because they were still using Apple //e computers.
Unfortunately my school district continued their complete disdain for Apple computers. When IBM introduced their Personal Computer and PC clones were easy to make that's the direction the district's IT director decided to go. Even though the district had abandoned the TRS-80 they didn't offer to upgrade my computer. I was still left with the TRS-80 at school.
A Huge Break
My experiences with the TRS-80 paid off big time in 1985. I saw a call for grant proposals from Tandy Radio Shack Education Division in a computer publication. The grant announcement stated that they were offering a grant to an individual teacher for $10,000 in Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 hardware and software. In 1985 $10,000 was a lot of money! (that would be close to $30,000 in 2024) The announcement also gave directions for requesting a form for the grant proposal. I immediately sent a letter requesting their form.
Over the next few weeks I developed a grant proposal. It centered on teachers using computers for classroom management. I'm not going into all the details here and will mention more later on. In a letter dated March 13, 1985 William Gattis, Vice President on Tandy Radio Shack Education Division, said that my grant had been funded. While the grant proposal was centered around the TRS-80 computer system Tandy Radio Shack had recently introduced their IBM clone, the Tandy 1000. Tandy 1000 computers were some of the first IBM PC clones to incorporate a complete set of basic peripherals on the motherboard using proprietary ASICs, the forerunner of the chipset. Obviously these were going to quickly make the TRS-80 systems obsolete. Through some negotiations and simple proposal changes the executives at Tandy Radio Shack allowed me to substitute the Tandy 1000 computers for the TRS-80s for the grant. In June of 1985 I received hardware and software from the company with a total amount of $9,312. ($27221.16 in 2024 dollars)
While I'm not going to go into the particulars of the grant proposal here I'll just say it was for exploring the uses of computers for classroom management. The $10,000 grant award was enough for me to "purchase" three full Tandy 1000 computer systems including computers, monitors, daisy wheel printers and some necessary software to meet the goals of the grant.
Higher Education
Since I had earned my Computers in Education Certificate from California Lutheran University and was teaching continuing education courses for them, including a class for all the secretaries in the Department of Education, most of the department staff knew who I was. So, when I walked into their office one day asking to see someone about working towards a Master's degree I was immediately escorted by two of the secretaries to the Dean's office. They informed him about who I was and why I was there. He quickly invited me to be seated at his desk and we started discussing the possibilities. The impetus for my going in to check of a Master's degree was my Tandy Grant. I was hoping it could be used for a thesis. After a good exchange of information we established some of the necessary things that I'd needed to do and some of the courses I'd needed to take to earn the degree. The Dean offered to be the chairman of my thesis committee and we settled on two others pending their acceptance. The degree would officially be a Master's in Arts with a Specialization in Curriculum and Instruction. It would concentrate on the use of computers in education.
My quest for the Master's in Arts degree specializing in Curriculum and Instruction from California Lutheran University was successful. The degree was granted in May of 1987. Immediately, that summer, I was offered a position as an Adjunct Professor at California Lutheran University to teach a course on computers in education that had recently become a state required course for students seeking California Teacher Credentials. Yes, I was still teaching full time as an elementary teacher in the public school system and carrying out my Mentor Teacher duties for the school district.
As a result of the Tandy Radio Shack grant and subsequent Master's Thesis I was asked to present at the National Education Computer Conference in Dallas, Texas in 1987. Pam and I took the last two days off from school using some Personal Business days to drive to Dallas. To save money we stayed with my Aunt and Uncle who live just south of Dallas. It was a great conference where I got some national recognition for my computer expertise.
Where Things Went From There
I continued to teach at my elementary school, do some special jobs in computers for my school district and teach computer courses for teachers at California Lutheran University for several years. Obviously all this kept me busy and I was learning a lot.
Sometime in 1985 I had been invited to a special computer conference at a hotel near the L.A. Airport. This was an invitation only event. At that rather exclusive event Microsoft presented what I believe to be one of the first public demonstrations of Windows. I was intrigued with what I saw. It was their version of a graphic interface that the Macintosh already had. The demonstration, however, didn't go well. There were still a lot of bugs in the programming and the computer they were using, though it had the most RAM available at the time, wasn't adequate to allow them to open more that two windows at a time. Whenever they attempted to open a third window the computer crashed. Even with the problems I was impressed with what they were showing.
My First Macintosh
As my reputation for using computers in education grew I gained more recognition for my expertise through out the county, especially at the county department of education. Soon after Apple introduced the Macintosh SE I was invited to assist a group of teachers who had just purchased these Macintosh computers. The county had set up a special buy for the computers with Apple. Since the majority of the teachers who were receiving the Macintosh SE computers the office of education decided to hand them out and provide an orientation class for the teachers. A, along with a few other teachers, received instructions on what to teach these teachers and provide any necessary assistance to get them started. For my services I received a small stipend plus a great lunch. More importantly I also gained a lot more respect from county education leaders regarding my computer education skills plus several good contacts at the county office of education plus a tri-county office of education. My reputation was expanding across all three counties. I also got to know the ins and outs of the Macintosh SE.
As a result of my experience with these new computers Pam and I decided that we could afford to buy me one to replace my Apple //c. We bought a single dick drive Macintosh SE plus a carry bag so that I could carry it to work and back.
What a fantastic computer. It greatly expanded my skills as well as productivity. I really enjoyed using it.
I strayed from Apple
Because my school district wasn't budging from it's stance against Apple I decided to get a PC. My Macintosh SE was great but I wanted something with color and nothing Apple had at the time was fitting for what I wanted. The company seemed to have lost their way and wasn't doing very well. Pam and I were watching QVC on TV and they were offering a well equipped Dell computer at a good price. The package came with everything I'd need including a decent monitor. It's interesting that I have no idea when I bought the Dell. While it was a nice computer and did what I needed it for at the time the Dell wasn't at all a great machine.
Over the years that initial Dell was followed by another one which was followed by a couple of Gateway computers. I bought the first Gateway because the hard drive on my second Dell failed. Fortunately the guy from the Geek Squad was able to salvage the drive but since I needed a new computer for him to transfer the data to I just went to Best Buy and bought the Gateway. The guy came back the next week and transferred everything over to the new hard drive and didn't charge me for the second visit. Yes, I know some of you are out there saying I should have done it all myself. First of all I wasn't positive how to do everything and second I didn't have the time. Remember, though I was no longer teaching at the university, I had a full time job.
I Changed Back to Macintosh
In 2007 when Apple introduced the all aluminum iMac I was very impressed. The Gateway I had was showing signs of quitting on me and I decided that I needed a new computer. It was sort of a retirement present to my self. The next year I retired after 36 years in the classroom. Apple had managed to win me back.
Wow, the new Mac IOS on the iMac at the time was far advanced in my opinion over whichever version of Windows I was running on my Gateway. Most likely it was Windows 98 but I'm not sure. Fortunately most of the software I had been using on my Windows computers was also available for Macintosh. I still kept the Dell around for a couple of programs that didn't have Mac versions. While I wasn't able to transfer most of my old files to the Mac I really didn't care. Most of them were related to teaching so with my pending retirement they were no longer needed.
I really enjoyed that 2007 iMac. It was an outstanding machine and allowed me to do a lot of tasks that were much easier to perform than they were on Windows. One of the biggest tasks was searching the Internet for a home for us to retire to. It was amazing how easy that had become. While at the time only licensed realetors were allowed to look at the Multiple Listings I was able to get several of them to send me information on homes that met specific criteria in areas were were thinking of moving. At least twice a day I spent at least an hour sifting through the information that was sent to me. While I'm sure I could have done the same on a Windows machine I really enjoyed using the iMac.
One Monday someting that at the time was a fantastic deal came up. A home in our top priority area appeared at a price that was extremely reasonable. I called Pam into my office and asked her, "How soon do you want to move." That morning I called a friend who lived in the are of the house if she'd check it out for us. She knew exactly where it was because she drove by it when she took her son to school every morning. Later that day she called and told us that the house looked fine. Even though it was a repossessed property our friend said that it hadn't been trashed. Evertthing looked good as far as she could tell looking through the windows. I set up an appointment to see the house with the realtor who sent me the listing.
We Decided to Move with the Help of the Computer
Wednesday Pam and I took a day off from teaching and went to see the house. We'd made arrangements for the realtor to met us there. While the house was in good condition the yard, over an acre of land, wasn't. All signs of any landscaping that the former owner had put is were gone except for a poorly laid out sprinkler system. Much of the lot was overcome by weeds. Still I saw the potential. After fully inspecting the property, having conversations with our friend and her mother who lived in the area and had renovated our friends home and property, plus some conversations with the realtor we made an offer on the property. The bank made a very reasonable counter offer which we quickly accepted. Of course, since this was a repossessed property the bank officers took their time to finally allow us to close escrow. That happened a few months later right at the end of the month when you the worker at the bank wanted to show he'd sold something. The new place was finally ours.
When we bought the house I was still teaching and Pam had another year before she could retire. With a commute from our current home to the new place being a little over two hours one way we did manage to go down there on the weekends to get things done. A few more months later after my last day teaching I was able to travel down to the new place to work on the new home and property and supervise some contractors who we hired to do some of the work. In the maen time we had also bred one of our basset hounds and she was pregnant. Our friend who lived near our new home was our co-breeder. She agreed to have the litter at her home so for a while when I went down to the new house I also had a litter of puppies to help care for. That was just about the time that we were having a new workshop/garage built next to the house. Needless to say for a few weeks I was extremely busy with puppies and overseeing the building project.
My Computing Since Then
Pam retired the following spring. Shortly afterward we moved. After we were both retired we enjoyed exploring the area and all it had to offer. I was also busy setting up my workshop and finalizing some home improvement projects. Pam and I also had several litters of basset hounds. While the computer was a handy tool during this time I didn't get very involved with using it.
It wasn't until we were finally able to get wired Internet with no limitations in data that I was finally able to do a lot of things on the Internet. Prior to that in months where I exceeded my data cap we ended up with high Internet bills. With the new data plan, though our speeds were low, I finally was able to get on YouTube. That was truly an enlightening experience. At first I watched a whole lot of woodworking videos. They really helped me to start utilizing my workshop to its full potential. I could also be more involved in researching basset hounds.
Sometime in 2014 I upgraded to a new 27" iMac. According to "About this Mac" it's a Late 2014 model with a 3.5 GHz Quad-core i5 processor and an AMD Radon R9 M290X 2GB graphics card. My original one was showing signs of quitting on me and Apple had introduced Retina displays.
More to Come