I was just thinking how technology has enhanced my life and why I embrace it.
As a young man I had a natural gift for Technical Drawing using rotating ink pens, rulers, french curves and CS10 Board for drawing on. Everything was done manually. No computers, smartphones, tablets, digital TV in fact you had 4 TV channels to choose from and they played 'God Save the Queen before the TV station closed at midnight. Colour TV was a must have if you were lucky.
I started working at an adverting agency when I was 18/19. It wasn't glamorous as it specialised in Business to Business Advertising. I became a junior Commercial Artist creating layouts and producing finished art pre press.
There was no colour codes or emails - everything was faxed or posted. It took creatives, finished artists, typographers, photographers, illustrators, editors many days to produce an advert or brochure. A fair number of people had to be employed to get a job done.
As technology advanced many of these jobs were conducted by a new breed of digital artists using desk top publishing software.
I could see the wring on the wall was made redundant and with my redundancy money bought myself an Applemac, a postscript back and white laser printer, desk top publishing software and set out to reinvent myself by learning how to use digital technology.
I learnt how photographers used medium format cameras, how to retouch photos digitally, studied marketing communications and started working for myself - I was learning every day.
Eventually I came off the design side when I started working as a disabled person ast a more flash advertising agency. I was the only disabled person who worked there but I had a good grasp of technological advances in the industry.
Digital photography, digital illustration, prepress digital artwork, digital colour presses for short runs. Whatever was going on I had a thirst to know how it worked, find out it's uses for our clients.
I embraced new technology as it arrived and realised I wanted a piece of the action. I was a disabled person throughout my working life but it was technology that allowed me to work as long as I did - 38 solid years.
Even today I enjoy using technology and I use it to enhance my life.
Disabled People should try to embrace this technology as it will pay dividends as technology skills are the future - your future.
Has technology been good or bad for you. Do you swim with the tide or against it.