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My passion for technology is a long one. My earliest memories involve playing Tetris on the Gameboy and the original NES complete with 31-1 game cartridges and dunk hunt. My first interaction with a computer was an Apple IIe around year 4 at Barooga Public School. A yellowing white box, carried around in a crate, it was the only one at school and was used incredibly rarely. As I recount these events, I’m amazed I started typing at 9 (20 years ago).
During my early teenage years, I spent many weekends at a mates place. His 386 produced many of my first experiences with computers. My first time online was on that computer. Many hours were spent playing Scorched Earth and Lemmings. Babysitting provided an early revenue stream to purchase new games for my Nintendo 64, 4-played Goldeneye 007 got abused hardcore.
Throughout high school I remember campaigning my non-tech-savvy parents for a computer of our own. I watched other students around me receive higher marks for assignments that were typed. Eventually I wore them down. A 486 DX 4 100. A beast of a machine for its time with a swish 14” monitor and bundled with a number of educational cd’s like Encarta.
I always had a thirst for learning more about the machine, something mum became acutely aware of with frequent visits back to the local computer shop when I’d broken it. In reality all they really did was format and hand it back. By year 11 and 12 it was clear I wanted to do something with computers, but had no idea how I was going to paid for it.
In 2000 I picked up and left home for Wodonga to study at TAFE. I needed a computer, so I spent $4k on a Dell Dimension. Studying Certificate II and II in IT, I got a good understanding of the different disciplines in IT. Office Applications, Networking, Hardware/repairs and Multimedia. Multimedia stuck for me. Another 15 months later I had a Diploma of Multimedia. Fortunately it was noticed that I worked my ass off and was rewarded with a job. Shortly after, I was the first person I knew with a digital camera.
In 2005, Microsoft launched Windows Live Spaces and I began blogging. It seemed like an incredibly efficient way of disseminating information, much better than the only other alternative online back then – bulk email. As more of my posts switched from personal experiences, to technology it made sense to setup a dedicated technology site – in March of 2007, http://techAU.tv was born.
In 2011, I start the day with a strong coffee, much needed after a usual post 1am bedtime, working on my startup Constructiv. I admit, I own a stupid amount of technology for one person. 2×27” monitors, MediaSmart Home Server, Slingbox, Sonos music system, PS3, Xbox360, Wii, TiVo, 52” HDTV, Canon 500D, iPhone 4, Omnia7, iPad, Macbook to name a few. When you love technology, it hurts your hip pocket, but I love it. I’m addicted for life.
This post is in response to http://delicategeniusblog.com/?p=1292
