Computer Killer

 

Hayter for April 6, 2025

“How I nearly killed the advent of computers”

 

          I never spread this around, but 40 or so years ago, I was on the cusp of becoming quite valuable in the area of Control Processing Units. We referred to them as CPUs. – Let that sink in  for a minute. – Times up. Get back here.

          Over the years, CPUs have been referred to as computers. The CPU I experimented with was a keyboard that sat on a table in front of an 18-inch TV screen. The background of the screen was black, and the print on the screen was green. I’ve never cared for green on a black screen. It might be good for a song lyric, but nothing else. Oh, and there were no photos, videos, or sound coming from the computer. It made me a bit leary of it’s value.

          My friend Bob Ezell was the one who got me involved with the early computer. Bob is as sharp as a whip and as unpretentious as you can get. For a brilliant person to be able to communicate on my level while exhibiting no hint of talking down to me is a gift from God. One that He decided I had no need of.

          If I recall, my friend Virginia knew Bob from Sam Houston University and somehow introduced me. Before I knew it, Bob got in touch with me and made me a part of TWC, “Teachers With Computers”. I made up the name.

At the time, I had no vision. I never considered the advent of color TV, so it’s obvious I saw no future in waiting five minutes for green print to pop up on a blank screen. But, per my instructions, I keyed in a range of topics. When I keyed in “Oklahoma” three documents

 showed up. No worries. I already knew as much as I cared about Oklahoma. I just wanted to see if I was smarter than the CPU.

 

Bottom line, had the powers that be accepted my advice on the fallacy of computers in education, teachers would not be using them today. NASA would likely be the only outfit playing around with them. 

The good news is, Bobby Ezell was the one who the Conroe ISD Administrators heeded.  – And get this: after recognizing my lack of vision, Bob still liked me. He even got me involved in other projects. Since my retirement, I have yet to see my friend. I’ll find him. I’ll just have to remind him who I am. I couldn’t have left the impression on him that he did on me.

          All in all, it’s amazing how my early involvement with technology has so drastically changed in just 40 years. When I finish this piece, the first thing I’m going to do is check my emails. I vaguely remember life before emails. As it is, I seldom talk on the phone. With conversation, I don’t have nearly enough time to respond to anything without sounding silly. Computers give me more time to figure out what it is I’m trying to say.

I retired from teaching just in time. I’m sure some students shared homework and test questions in my classes. It was just a little harder to do before the advent of the cell phone. It’s a blessing indeed, that my mind has only managed to hold onto the good things about being a teacher. My experience was great. My involvement in CPU experiments, not so much.  

          Of course, I am now overly dependent on my laptop and cell phone. The first thing I do in the morning as well as before bedtime, is check my emails. That topic brings to mind the greatest invention since the flushable toilet. Of course, I referring to the computer mouse. Oh, and the pointed thing it brings up on the screen. I believe Apple came up with this. Without a mouse, I don’t have the patience to locate stuff.

The one thing a mouse can’t even help me with is the plethora of ads that attack my computer screen. As soon as I pull up some info on my screen, I’m attacked by a mass of rectangular ads for any and everything. They won’t go away, either. If I click on them, I’m liable to see an ad for an invisible cell phone holder that’s surrounded by a dozen other things I don’t want nor need.  

That’s not good. And, in the words of Wilford Brimley from ‘Absence of Malice’ -- “It’s real wrong, and by God it’s not right.”

          I have seen popups that agree to get rid of the ads if I click on them. I haven’t done so, because I can’t afford whatever it costs to lose the ads.  

          I’m thinking that advertising will be around forever. Some of the sci-fi movies today show strange spaceships flying around downtown, where all of the high-rises have videos of huge ads on the side of buildings. That’s what the future holds for mankind. Perhaps many of us will be blessed to be elsewhere when it hits.  

          That being said, next week my plan is to share with you some helpful things amongst a bunch of less helpful. We’ll both come out so much smarter than we are now. Smart enough not to order some of the weird stuff online. I have no hope for me, but perhaps I can save a few of you.

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com