In 1982, I was a junior in high school. I’d learned Fortran, but also had spent plenty of time in the darkroom (yes, prints, chemicals, red light, and all). And only a few years before, I’d been delivering newspapers on my 10-speed. The advances in information technology since those days have been amazing — but not as amazing as our first halting steps, as beautifully captured in this video, from a time when “Owns Home Computer” was an interesting way to describe someone:

A footnote: David Cole, the San Francisco Examiner editor seen in this piece, is still active in the field of technology and newspapers.

Kent Anderson

Kent Anderson

Kent Anderson is the CEO of RedLink and RedLink Network, a past-President of SSP, and the founder of the Scholarly Kitchen. He has worked as Publisher at AAAS/Science, CEO/Publisher of JBJS, Inc., a publishing executive at the Massachusetts Medical Society, Publishing Director of the New England Journal of Medicine, and Director of Medical Journals at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Opinions on social media or blogs are his own.

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