Technology

Personal History

I have long been fascinated by technology. Today we live in exciting times as technology plays an increasingly important role in all of our lives. My excitement and passion for technology was fueled by the striking developments which took place in the 1950’s. This was driven, in part, by the transition from vacuum tubes to semiconductor electronics and from piston aircraft to jet passenger planes. Early on I purchased a Fujica 35ML camera and flash which started a lifelong passion for photography. An example of how this converged happened when I went to the San Francisco Airport in 1959. Loaded with my camera I was given access to repair hangars and the ramp in a way that we can only dream about today. Here is a striking photo of two TWA Lockheed Constellation aircraft on the ramp. These were beautiful aircraft and the few left flying remain a subject of awe.

Yet, at the same time, the shift was taking place to jets. Here is a photo of a United Airlines DC-8 on the ramp.

My lifelong passion would be with electronics and it would shape my education and career. I remember distinctly this issue of Electronics dated February 25, 1955 which sparked my early interest.

The Hallicrafters SX-53A receiver on the desk is one that I would get to own. In my Junior and Senior year of High School this passion took a turn to entrepreneurship. I started John’s Radio and TV Repair and ran it for these two years in High School.

The past is only a prelude to the here and now. This was a wonderful time to be engaged in technology which was changing rapidly and dramatically altering our lives.
Today we are in another shift in technology which is fueled by these advancements which capture my attention:

• Mobile electronics – in all forms – this technology already has had massive impacts including in emerging markets
  Autonomous automobiles – will radically change road transportation
  Makerspace movement – this transforms making personal objects and business incubation
  Cloud computing and storage – This already has had a major impact on computing but it is largely invisible to the public.
  Drones – we are in the Wright Brothers era of drones. This is a continuation of my passion for aviation and flying.
  Digital Word – in many respects we take this for granted with the Internet but the ubiquitous presence of the word in books, including capturing the past printed word has yet to play out. My interest here is in book scanners.

These are exciting times.

About the Author

About the Author: With a background in Electrical Engineering technology is both a career and passion. As can be seen here visiting the world, asking questions and learning are other passions. Attempting to pass ones experiences and that learning on to others is the a motivator for this blog. More from this author.