Taking a nostalgic trip back to my design school days. But first, does anyone remember this sound? The sound of dial-up internet via 56k moderm….. hahahahaha! Classic.
I hopped on the internet bandwagon sometime in 1993 and my first computer was a Quadra. Those early computing days went entirely hand-in-hand with my metriculation at design schools. (I attended a couple of them.) At the time I was pretty much ‘analog’ but I had to get a computer because of mandatory computer classes at the time. The computer wasn’t so much a ‘social’ tool for me as it was an extension of my regular art toolbox. I didn’t know how to use anything on it except the design softwares that were taught in school. Having a computer at home facilitated my homework being completed in time, without having to fight for a spot to use the machines in the school’s computer lab.
Those college years were some of the best years in my life and I wish I own a time machine that can transport me back to those days. I have long thrown out (or sold off, given away) pretty much all of my art supplies. By the time I graduated, computing was full-fledged a standard in all the ad agencies in NYC. The world wide web was also here to stay. In an effort to preserve some memories of those wonderful design school years, here’s a roundup of the tools I used at the time. Talk about retro eh?
Clockwise: 1. Drafting Table, 2. Anti-slip Bevelled Ruler (for cutting), 3. X-acto Knife, 4. Staedtler Leadholder/Mechanical Pencil, 5. Combination Lock (for the school locker), 6. Drafting Compass, 7. French Curves, 8. Rapidograph, 9. Design Markers, 10. Haberule, 11. T-square, 12. Art Tube, 13. Sketchbook
Clockwise: 1. Bienfang Graphics 360 Marker Paper, 2. Type Gauge, 3. Color-aid, 4. Art Bin, 5. Rubber Cement Pickup (eraser), 6. Rubber Cement, 7. Thinner/Solvent, 8. Luci Projector, 9. Loupe, 10. Letraset Rub-down Transfer Lettering, 11. Art Portfolio Case
Clockwise: 1. Macintosh Quadra, 2. 56k Dialup Modem, 3. SCSI Cable, 4. Macintosh Bible System 7.1 Book, 5. Syquest Cartridge, 6. AOL floppy disc, 7. Kensington Trackball 8. Miscellaneous Softwares, 9. AGFA scanner
The computer classes I had to take in those days included Photoshop 2.0, Freehand 4.0, Illustrator 4.1, Quark Xpress 3.31, WordPerfect 3.0 and HTML 1.0. Yup yup, I was taught how to draw bezier curves using a mouse and code a website from scratch. Dayamn! And believe you me, I used to read the System 7.1 book as my bedtime reading too, ok!!! :X Couldn’t get any geekier than that.
The front gate to this wonderful world of wide wide web for me was none other than AOL. Back then it was difficult not to sign up with AOL, because they kept sending free diskettes in the mail. Diskettes = Floppy discs. Buwahahaha. Those things are a-a-a-aa-aancient. There were so many lying around the house that they became coasters after a while. :p
Interesting related sites if you want more:
A chronological list of all Apple hardware (from 1976 to 2004)
History of Photoshop
Freehand Splash Screens
Quark Xpress Splash Screens
Illustrator Splash Screens
WordPerfect Splash Screens
AOL’s History in Photos
Everything you need to know about AOL via wiki
10 Tacky Tidbytes of ‘Net Nostalgia
Happy times, folks. Happy times. :)
Man, I really should NOT have gotten rid of all those old stuff. They are artifacts now (heh). Collectors items. So what’s the lesson that we’re learning here, boys and girls? That’s right. DO NOT THROW AWAY ANY GADGETS EVER!!! Old modems, old phones, old mice, old headphones, old dvds (anyone remember those huge-ass karaoke laser discs?), old handphones (Motorola Startac, hello?). KEEP THEM! Your kids or grandkids will make a bundle selling them off next time to techie fanatics. ;P
Incidentally, I am blogging this on a much much more MODERN computer that’s blazing fast, running on a totally different system from what I’m used to, without the hassle of wires or cables, IN BED. Yes, yes, the Asus N43 laptop which I am test driving. (Lol, that “in bed” part sounds like the fortune cookie naughty twist; but really what I mean to convey is the convenience of portable computing.)
:P
Okay, I’m bouncing out. Toodles!
-MB.
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