On Thursday, March 18, I will be celebrating my 50th birthday. 50 years?! Yes, 50 years! Who would have thunk it, me 50? I am unable to act 50 as I’m still haven’t left my first childhood yet because if there are toys around in a department store with buttons to press, you bet I’m going to be pressing those buttons and making a lot of noise in the process, trust me on this!

In those 50 years, I have also seen a lot of history and changes in technology as well.

Last year I went to the Birdwood Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia, where I’m from. There were cars from old vintage cars to the last Australian made Holden car which rolled off the Holden Factory production line in Elizabeth, South Australia in 2017 when Holden’s ceased car manufacturing at the Plant and Holden’s closed their doors.

There was a 1981 Toyota Landcruiser 4 Wheel Drive there and me, being older than that 4 wheel drive, it made me realise that the museum could put me on a platform and I could become an exhibit and talk about the technology changes and history I’ve lived through and used.

I’ve lived life before mobile phones (cell phones), computers, atms, cassette tapes, DVDs, CD’s, smart TV’s, smart phones, digital radio, digital cameras, smart watches, Facebook and other social media platforms, streaming services, credit cards and many other things.

Atari play stations, pay phones, rotary phones, Commodore 64, bank books, Beta and VHS video recorders, black and white TV, video arcade games, pinball machines,  roller skating rinks, Walkman’s, Gameboy… if you remember these, you must be as old as me… lol

I’ve witnessed history with the coming down of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War ending between the US and Russia, 9/11, the death of Princess Diana, Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, just to name a few events.

Remember being the remote control and being the one to physically change the channels on the TV?

Taking photos was fun as well when you had no idea of what you were taking on the camera as you only had a view finder to look through and if it was a blurry photo, you couldn’t delete it. The roll of film would be taken to the chemist shop (pharmacy or drug store) and you would have to wait several days for the photos to be developed and then go to back to the chemist to pick them up and get your first look at what you had photographed… a foot? Half a head? Some other random thing you had no idea you took a photo of? Yep, looking at the photos once you’ve collected could be an interesting experience.

I was in the generation who downloaded music from the radio and recorded the songs on a cassette tape making the original mix tapes.

We all will experience changes in technology in our lives and see history in the making, or be a part of it, in witnessing it.

To the younger generation, when you look back on your life and see the changes in technology or the history that’s taken place, remember that you are in an unique place because you got to be a part of it and that is special. You get to be a teller of history to the next generation who follow you.

Until next time

Kaye