It’s an about page – what did you expect?
I grew up with computers. There was never a time in my house when there wasn’t a computer–which is pretty impressive considering I have been around since 1980. My dad is a computer programmer and engineer, and for a long time, he ran an educational software business out of our basement. I learned to write on a TI-99, and would insist to anyone who asked how to spell my name, that it was, “T-O-M-M-Y-enter.”
As our school classrooms started to bring in computers, I was often the one helping the teacher figure out what to do with it, so we played a lot of Oregon Trail.
With the ’90s came better graphics, CD-ROMs, adolescence and the spreading popularity of the internet–not necessarily the best combination. I lived near a major research university, and nobody seemed to care if a thirteen-year-old was hanging out in the university computer lab; yes T-1 speed! I wasted hours doing everything from downloading and printing the Anarchist’s Cookbook (it was what you did as a teenager in the days of early internet), to playing MUDs and MOOs with my junior high buddies. I occasionally even worked on the homework I would tell my mom I was working on. At home I got my own computer and installed a 2400 baud modem, and I would call up local BBS’s to play games and download photos of swimsuit models. I usually had to leave the computer on overnight to give it enough time to download a few photos.
The 2000s are when the internet really came into its own. I witnessed the .COM boom and bust, the spread of email, online dating, Amazon, and in classrooms, computers were a normal and expected part of education. I had my first laptop and headed off to college where I learned about computer hardware, HTML, and web design. I went to flight school at a time when GPS and avionics were the latest and greatest thing. And I started reading eBooks on a Palm Pilot with books purchased on a site I don’t even remember before there was such a thing as a Kindle. I listened to MP3s and podcasts on an off-brand MP3-player, and I got a cell phone that made phone calls and sent text messages.
So the 2010s seem to be all about social media and personal devices. Everyone has a portable computer in their pocket that is more powerful than anything I ever imagined. I vividly remember a trip I took to Hawaii in 2006, and being somewhat tech savvy, I had a cell phone, a digital camera, a camcorder, and a laptop with me. When I got to Hawaii, I tossed all of it on the floor and swore there had to be a better way to call, take photos, record videos, and access websites without lugging all of these electronics, batteries, chargers, and cables with me. Now there is. Thanks, Steve Jobs, I think.
Now I spend much of every day in front of a screen typing emails, researching ideas, reading articles. And when I get home, I have so much choice on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Britbox, Acorn, Crunchyroll, YouTube, so I sit in front of a screen even more. If I don’t want to watch TV or a movie or a YouTube video? There are games to play on my phone, on PC, Nintendo, and on, and on. Is it too much screen time?
Now I have an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old who also love screen time. I try to help us all find balance, yet there are some amazing things I have discovered about time spent in front of a screen. Time spent together is great, whether with friends or family, whether it is battling each other from the couch or laughing at funny vines. But maybe the most amazing thing now is people have access to resources that can help them to learn nearly anything.
Things I have learned to do online:
- Install a woodstove
- Design and build speakers
- Fix plumbing leaks
- Build a porch
- Build a table
- Build a TV stand
- Do my taxes
- Have a healthier relationship
- Design electronic circuits
- Repair and rebuild a motorcycle
- and so much more…
So I start this blog to talk about learning, leisure, and love in the digital world. All in 1s and 0s. Welcome.
Techno Tom 
