The Death of CD-ROMs… Tragic!
As a child, it’s inevitable to marvel at everything above and beyond the restrictive height of three feet. I recall tugging on my father’s shirt as his face lit up with a blue hue; his fingers would furiously click away on the buttons in front of him as the screen would change from page to page. As far as technology goes, my time was mostly spent on LeapFrog tablets. The day I sat in my father’s chair, the one in front of the clicking buttons, I was near a whopping four feet tall. In other words, I was about five years old. The letters D-E-L-L presented themselves in a crooked manner on the bottom of the screen. The year was 2003, a moment in history where the Internet was beginning to make an appearance. At the time, I didn’t have any understanding of what the daunting “I word” meant, however, I did know that I could find pictures of golden retrievers in the search box if my heart truly desired… which it did. My love for reading and writing was also satisfied by using the blue and white “W” application, also known as Word. Many websites were visited every week, too; these included: cartoonnetwork.com, disneychannel.disney.com, play.barbie.com, and so on. The once empty office cabinet soon flooded with CD-ROMs, my favorite use of the home computer. To my knowledge, however, that was the extent of technology.
Growing up, technology wasn’t a principal piece of my family. I look back at my childhood and am reminded the ways my parents prioritized my brother and I’s traditional playtime. Hula hoops, jump ropes, plastic trucks, and dolls dominated my free time. Although we kept the Dell computer in my father’s office, its use was rather limited. That isn’t to say the Internet eventually made a huge impact in my life.
Fast forward a few years and the Internet has offered unlimited possibilities. From search engines to online purchases, virtual worlds were becoming a societal norm. Social media platforms were emerging at an alarming rate flooding the Internet with personal profiles; when I was thirteen, I joined my first online social media account: Facebook. Consequently after, I joined my second account: Twitter. As a thirteen year old, there was essentially no purpose behind these profiles. Nonetheless, my friends and I continued to use them unreasonably.
Once I entered high school, my experience was highly influenced by “new media”. Platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat were on the rise as students were frantically adding each other and posting pictures. The world of CD-ROMs and Cartoon Network quickly faded as I grew up; purpose became determined by the amount of friends/followers you had, and faces were recognized behind a screen rather than in person. Phones joined lunch with friends and the occasional buzzing would sound from students’ backpacks.
All things considered, it’s safe to say that the momentum of technology picked up rather quickly. With that being said, it isn’t slowing down any time soon. Emerging technologies and internet services have gained immense popularity. Streaming services (e.g. Netflix, Spotify, Pandora), electronic commerce (e.g. Amazon, iTunes), and a plethora of other virtual amenities continue to influence our world today. Unfortunately, my days of CD-ROMs have come to an end.