My earliest memories with computers go back to the days when streaming YouTube felt like a luxury and bulky CRT monitors dominated every desk.
My father received his first computer during college as a gift from my grandfather, who sold a portion of his land to afford it. This wasn’t just a purchase—it was an investment in the future. Later, my father opened a computer training center alongside a document-printing shop, which became one of his main sources of income before he joined a college as a lecturer.
He often took me to the training center and taught me how to operate a TV-like screen (the monitor) connected to a big box with a constantly whirring fan (the CPU), a board filled with alphabet keys (the keyboard), and a small device with two clickable buttons that somehow earned the perfect name “mouse.” Back then, I didn’t realize the entire setup—not just the monitor—was called a computer.
Fast forward to the present, we live in an age shaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI), satellites, quantum computing, powerful personal computers, 5G connectivity, lightning-fast internet, smartphones, PlayStations, GPS, and constant progress on all fronts.
Technology now weaves through every aspect of my daily life. I work on my laptop, communicate and navigate with my smartphone, set reminders through my smart speaker, and receive notifications instantly on my smartwatch. Wherever I go, I am surrounded by glimpses of technological innovation.
Sometimes it feels like I am living in an illusion crafted by technology itself. I vividly remember when technology was still evolving—when we had basic cell phones instead of today’s smartphones, simple Casio watches rather than Apple Watches, and streaming a single YouTube video required endless patience. I once installed an aluminum dish antenna on my window, desperately hoping it might boost my 2G dial-up connection. Well, the experiment was a disaster.
However, the faster technology evolves, the more it shapes our lives—not just how we work, but also how we think, connect, and see the world. My only hope is that we continue to embrace it wisely—for progress and connection, rather than destruction and division. Looking back, this journey from CRT monitors to AI has been remarkable, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.