Remembering The Days Before Things Got Complicated
11 December 2009

"The only electrical items we had were found in the kitchen and most of them didn't work because of the power cuts."

Slowly, I crept up the stairs. I knew there was a surprise lurking under the bed sheets. Tingling with anticipation, I threw open the bedroom door and pounced excitedly on the bed to discover, concealed beneath the surface, what I desired most in the world at that very moment: a Hornby train set.

I was 6 and it was my birthday.

I've still got that train set in the loft and one day I'll find some time to play with it. That all seems like a very long time ago now and that's most probably because it is. I'm rapidly approaching my fortieth birthday in what can only be described as a state of complete and utter terror. What happened to the last 34 years? The last time I looked I had hair and Tears For Fears were in the charts.

Technology wasn't something we thought about back in the days when I was struggling to pull a British Rail Intercity 125 out of its huge red box. Everything seemed much less hassle when I was a youngster and I'm starting to realise that I'm from the last generation that knew that simple life while they were growing up. No iPhones or computers for us back then. Other than the television, the only electrical items we had were found in the kitchen and most of them didn't work because of the power cuts. Ah, happy days.

Examining all the techno-clutter I've somehow managed to accumulate over half a lifetime it's hard not to think that some of that hard earned cash could've been put to much better use. Was there really any need to get rid of that CRT television? The new flat screen is nice, certainly, but those property and antique programmes haven't got any better for the clearer picture and surround sound. As I write I'm waiting on Christmas 2009's “must have” gadget – the Blu Ray player to plug in to the flat screen which will add to the ever growing tangle of wiring behind my home entertainment emporium that already looks like an explosion in a spaghetti factory.

It wouldn't be so bad, but I know that within weeks I'll be reading that HD is dead, 3D TV has taken over and Blu Ray discs have been superceded by Pink Desmond discs that have 100 times the capacity.

Thankfully my Mac Pro has turned out to be one piece of kit that has lasted the test of time. I've only been an Apple user since 2005 having previously been cursed by THE DARK SIDE. Back in those days I'd got into a bi-annual upgrade cycle. Ejecting the current choice of horrible grey plastic box, extracting from it anything worth keeping (which was usually very little), building the new version of another horrible grey plastic box and going through the enormous pain that was Windows re-installation.

I'm still having nightmares about it.

Once I'd made the move to Mac I immersed myself in Steve's Reality Distortion Field and have remained very happy within its warm embrace. My recent upgrade to Snow Leopard was virtually painless as have been various hardware upgrades to my machine. I feel like I'm 6 all over again and can't quite understand why so many of my friends refuse to see how much better computing is when you switch platforms.

I like the simple life and as I don't have to worry about upgrading or re-installing as often as I used to I have lots more time on my hands so I'm off to the loft to see if I've still got any Lego.