2024
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 12
Prompt – Technology
I have lived through some of the most amazing technology inventions. Each new thing would slowly drag us forward to the next big thing. I grew up with the black and white t.v. with two channels. Our radios were plugged in or sometimes could run on batteries. Vinyl records which I realize has made a big comeback. A single family phone that was attached to the wall or sat on a table with a rotary dial to dial the number. Information was gotten by going to the public library and looking up in a card catalogue the book you needed to find the information. We went out to the theatres to watch the latest movie. Anyone under 16 used bikes or a bus as their transportation. We weren't hard done by because that was how it worked. And it was all good.
Slowly technology wandered into our home, work and leisure activities in an orderly fashion that just made it feel seamless to accomplish.
Bill Hoffart's Office Fish Phone.
My husband, Bill was an electrical engineer working for Sask-Tel in Research and Development. I will admit that I really didn't know what he was up to; he rarely talked about his work and I rarely asked about it. “How was your day? Good” we would say.
Therefore when I found this newspaper article about him, Sask-Tel and his work I was really surprised. I do not recall seeing this when it was first published in The Regina Leader-Post on February 8, 1984. Maybe I seen it but I don't recall it. I guess life was busy without technology, a job, and two small children and their activities and a home to keep up with.
Sask-Tel Employees Bill Hoffart (left) and Simon Shum demonstrate Chinese - English Translator
I read the article just recently and I thought – huh?! What the heck did this mean? Anyone who knows Bill, knows how easy it is to get lost in his conversations on most topics. I asked him to explain it to me. I had no idea of the technology he was into in the early 1980's. This was in the pre home computer era. Now don't quote me on this but what I heard was; It had something to do with Canada's Communication protocol. They were developing a “modem” box and databases that could transmit some data over telephone wires to a person's T.V. There were no computer screens at this time in homes. They set about a trial with some residents and businesses in Regina. They wanted to know what people wanted to see. For this trial they had the daily newspaper and weather radar. The data that showed up on the tv was not optimal due to it's lack of resolution. But at the time this was an exciting step towards data transfer to homes. It was clumsy and slow. They realized that fibre optics would be a better fit for the data transfer. I asked Bill if Telidon ever went anywhere with this and he said yes – the internet. He clarified that it was but one very small step in a series of steps to get to the internet that we have today. Bill and his boss realized the million dollar potential for this and his boss presented it to the Board of Directors. The board nixed it and well Sask-Tel missed an important opportunity.
I believe it was 1988 when we got our first home computer. It used a modem and the input was in basic code using a keyboard. I knew of the great big office size computers that used punch cards for input of data. However I could not think that this little desktop machine was anything of such consequence. Bill was very excited to have it. I admit that I did not possess the future sight that Bill had. Bill was always upgrading or adding on to our home computer when new things were developed such as more memory would come available. I seen the inside of a computer too often. Several times he brought our computer back to life when it died in what we called a”the blue screen of death”.
I remember that one Christmas I received a “CD Rom”. Once it was hooked up to our home computer it would accept Cd's. I remember placing a CD in and it had the whole Encyclopedia from A to Z. I was wowed and truly amazed. I finally imagined the possibilities.
Bill was never content to just buy computers. He would assemble them from parts he bought from the different computer shops here in Canada and the United States. Motherboards and goodness knows what else. He built it and we rarely needed to buy another computer because he could just upgrade it by inserting a new part.
We have always had a home computer since 1988. Gradually over the years as they became more sophisticated it became an integral part of the home. I believe it was in the early 1990's when the world wide web became available to the general public. We became connected to the world.
It was at this time that phones became mobile. The phones were no longer attached to the wall or phone desk. I remember my first “mobile" and I think they call them “brick type phones”. It was large and really didn't slip into my purse. I got one for safety because I worked night shifts and my car was not very reliable. I hated that Volare.
The mobile phone technology became smaller. They would fit into the palm of your hand. They were able to do more than be only a phone. Texting became a thing replacing the phone call.
As the phones were unattached from the home, the computers detached as well. Something called laptops. The big clunky home computer was now being replaced by a foldable, thin computer. It had the screen on one side and keyboard on the other and somewhere in between was all the inner computer parts. It was folded in half protecting the screen and keyboard. It was mobile and easy to carry in a case like a brief case. Before long it became a necessary part of University students school life and soon after high school children and most recently almost all children in school. Text books are becoming a thing of the past.
2009 - 11 Month Old Kelsey Helping Alanna.
My Dedicated Genealogy Laptop
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) . I-Pods, digital cameras, scanners, I-Pads rolled out in quick succession. The objective. in my opinion.was smaller physical presence with more computing power. I could hardly keep up with what each was and what could it do. If that was not bad enough, they updated them every year. For example the initial one was called 1st Generation, and the next year the 2nd Generation would roll out with just a few more bells and whistles to entice the consumer to want or need the new one.
Around 2005 the remarkable Apple product called an I-Phone rolled out. It was a phone, camera, a photo keeper, TV screen, music keeper, calendar, event keeper and believe it or not a computer. I can't remember my first I-Phone I owned. I got it because of the Face-time ability. Ring someone up and watch and talk to them in real time. The funny thing is that I remember as teenager we were told that one day we may have a phone watch that we could call up someone and see them while talking as if they were in front of us. It was unbelievable – science fiction!
The I-Phone is presently in its 15th Generation. I believe I have made it to the 12th Generation. Bill finally gave in a few years back and got a I-Phone. He took my old one when I bought the new one. The world outside was depending on everyone having a mobile phone to conduct business transactions.
Bill's latest hobby has been making 3-D printers. I am not talking about 3-D printed items, but building the actual printer.
Our ultimate technology acquisition is our Tesla. Sometimes called a laptop on wheels. We have had it for 3 years this spring. People are curious but really not sold on the idea of electric vehicles. I wonder if this is what Bill's maternal grandfather experienced when he bought his Model T in 1915?
2021 Model 3 Tesla
Bill's grandfather, Arthur Jahnke's 1915 Model T
Wendy
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