*Brand New* Technology and Innovation Meme

Edited to add a question about wireless networking to question 1 :)

I had been thinking of creating a meme based on my Valentine's Day post. . .
(by the way, I forgot to mention that we don't really celebrate this American holiday, like most other ones with the exception of Thanksgiving, because were didn't grow up here. DH and I did go out for dinner the next day, though, and like Alice, I should say it was fun to do something without the kids, except that I kept worrying about them, since we were running late - we didn't get home until 8 pm)

. . . and then I enjoyed so much reading some of your comments, particularly Kate's that I decided to go ahead and do it, in spite of the fact that I have been tagged by you with a few memes (the book one and the four things one) and didn't respond yet (I will, though, 'cause I think those are fun).

This will be an easy meme to respond to because most of my answers are already posted in the aforementioned Technology and Innovation = Love post, so all you have to do is cut and paste the questions. [I ended up responding to more questions that I thought I would]. Naturally, you can add new questions, and change the ones I have suggested:

1. Do you remember when you saw your first computer? When did you actually use one? What about having your own? Do you own a laptop? (PC or Mac?) Have you gone wireless at home yet?
(We use PCs, but really want to get a Mac, particularly for video editing). We went wireless last year in June and I even blogged about it, but I had forgotten to ask about it until I read Alice's response to this Meme. Having a wireless network is really cool, particularly when we have guests with laptops so everyone can go online at the same time. There was one time when we had 4 or 5 computers online, counting our desk and lap tops.

2. When did you first go online and/or use email? Who did you email back then? How did the internet change your life? When did you discover blogging? What about your home internet connection - is it dial-up, DLS, cable?
I can't live without internet access nowadays, and have become completely addicted to blogs and blogging. The main way in which the internet changed my life is that it made it easier to be an expatriate and be in touch with family thousands of miles away. The other thing is the access to knowledge and information. The internet has really helped a lot in my dissertation research, even though of course books are still the main source. It helps (or used to help) with teaching too. This post is all about blogs and blogging, a bit outdated, but still relevant regarding my own experience. We had free dial-up access to the university (in MA) until we bought a house and then it was no longer a local call (1997-2001), then we had cable (2001-2004), and now we have DSL because it's a bit cheaper (I liked cable better, though).

3. Do you remember your first VCR? What about a video camera (there were some bulky ones back in the 80s and 90s) and home videos?
I didn't write about this, so I'll respond now. When I was a baby and young girl (until 7 or 8) my parents had this Super 8 video camera, too bad their super 8 player has been broken for years now, and we have to put those movies in DVD (it's probably expensive). Our first VCR was bought in 1986, and it was a USED one (really bad). I loved to go to video stores and check out movies, particularly for "girls only" sleepovers with romantic movies (our favorite at the time A Room With A View - I still like this one, the other corny ones, I won't even mention :). My husband's family bought a C-VHS (that small tape that fits in an adapter to play in a regular VCR) video camera in our trip to the US back in 1993 (I was not married yet then, but I travelled with his family). My parents only bought one in 1996 when my brother came to the US to visit me. Me, DH (boyfriend at the time) and our friends shot some home movies back in 1991-92, but we had to borrow a video camera to do so.

4. When did you switch from VCR to DVD? How did it change your video viewing experience? Do you use TiVo or any such "contraption" to tape TV shows? Do you use Netflix or some other internet-based DVD "renting" service?
(this is the main subject of my previous post about this)

5. What about music? Did you enjoy listening favorite music in Long Plays or did you prefer cassete tapes? When did you buy your fist CD player and switched to CDs? Did you abandon them (and turned to dowloaded music) for MP3 players or Ipods or do you still buy CDs? (I'm not going to ask or comment about "illegal" music activities in the internet, even though it was an exciting innovation, lest one of us gets arrested for it :)

5. Do you own and use a cell phone? Do you think it's useful or just annoying?
(Did you always have a telephone in your house growing up? Did you have a phone in your own room?)
You don't have to answer the last part, but it applies to me. Since I grew up in Brazil and lived for many years in a rural area, for the most part, I grew up without a telephone. We had one for 4 years when I was 4-8 years old, but then, even though we moved to the big city of São Paulo, we didn't get to have a phone until 1989, I think, when I was 18. Then, we had only one phone and sometimes two (one for downstairs, another for upstairs), and I never used the phone much. During high school (when we didn't have one) I usually called my best friends from a pay phone. When I got married, we didn't have a telephone or a car (should I include a question about cars? Maybe).

6. When did you first buy a digital camera? What kind was it (3.2, 4.0, 5.0 mega-pixels or better)? Did you start taking more pictures or were you a photo afficionado before then? What about a digital video camera?
Our camera is a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717, 5 megapixels. Really bulky, but we like it. We already took tons of pictures before we went digital. Now we save $ because we hardly ever print our pics.

7. What about televisions? Have you already embraced the new technologies, such as HDTV, plasma, and flat screen? (On the other hand, you wouldn't remember black & white TVs, would you?)
We didn't have TV growing up until I was 4, then when my uncle got a brand new color TV, he gave us his old one. It was b&w, and it took a few minutes for the image to come to the screen. I watched Prince Charles and "Lady Di"'s wedding live on that TV :) We bought a color TV when I was 11 (1982) - my parents still have it, but since then they've bought two better ones. We bought our first TV when we came to the U.S. in 1996, and we still have it. It's a simple 19', stereo.

I'm tagging EVERYONE in my blogroll, and even those who aren't there (I should add a few more links, I know) and just lurk here. Of course some people in my blogroll don't read my blog, but that's OK :)
Could you let me know in the comments if you decide to take up this "meme"? Feel free to adapt it at will.