I was fourteen when my family got our first computer. We didn’t have internet yet, just the computer and Microsoft Office. I feel like Microsoft Office was a feature that automatically come with the computer, but I could be wrong.

We had the computer set on a coffee table in the living room. The living room at the time also served as a bedroom for my parents. It was a small 2 bedroom home and my brother and I got the bedrooms while my parents slept on a sleeper sofa in the living room. To use the computer I had to sit in front of my parents. My first task on my home computer was typing out my vocabulary words for school. Of course, my mom asked me what I was doing and I felt dumb because…what was I doing? I was just trying to get better at typing and now I had a home computer to try it on.

I was not good at typing until later in life, after high school, when forums and live chat sites became popular. You had to be quick with what you wanted to say or your thoughts were lost in the chaos of what everyone else was saying.

I don’t remember what brand of computer it was, but I think it may have been a Dell or a Gateway. Gateway was a computer brand, right? Now my first laptop is a different story. It was an expensive and heavy laptop. It was an HP and I paid a thousand bucks for it. It was the greatest thing in the world to me and I had it for several years before I upgraded to a lighter laptop…that died on me after a month of use. Having a laptop is what helped me start writing more. I could write faster when I was typing and my typing skills got better and better.

Thinking about my first desktop computer and my first laptop compared to what I have now is so wild. My desktop was built for gaming and I have two 22″ monitors because I can not work with one screen when I am on my desktop. I recently purchased my first Macbook. I got the MacBook Air. It is the lightest laptop I have ever owned. I also bought an iPad last year. I use it all. Desktop for big projects and games. The laptop is for writing anywhere and a lot of times in bed. My iPad has my planner and is just another portable way to write. I realize it might be a little overkill to have the iPad and the MacBook, but if I am still using it daily, I have no issues with it.

It’s kind of crazy to think how I was once chained to a desk to write. Or how I was chained to the computer at school or the library. Though, when I was in school we still handed in handwritten reports. Now, even my phone can be used to type out quick reports and keep notes. Technology has come so far in such a short time.

What has been your favorite computer/laptop?