The Technology Pro

As I mentioned in my last post, I was not convinced that personal computers would be necessary for the small business in the early 80’s.  I had sold a few computers to small business owners, though I don’t even think they knew what they were getting themselves into.

Shortly after my promotion to store manager in 1980, my store received one of the first TRS-80 Model III systems.  This machine was a bit different than the others that Radio Shack sold.  I came with a 5 1/4 inch floppy drive installed.  No more 8" disks.

A few weeks after the computer came, I received a shipment that included a revolutionary piece of software, Visicalc.

Visicalc was described to me as a giant column pad with a calculator built in.  The cool thing that Visicalc let us do was perform "what if" calculations.

I have always had an aptitude for math and I have always loved crunching numbers.

As a Radio Shack manager, we were required to fill out a daily report with sales figures, purchases and returns.  We had to track month-to- ate sales, compare daily sales to daily quota.  We also had to make sure that our bank deposit matched our sales.  And that was just the simple calculations.

This report took about 15 minutes to fill out.  Lots of calculations and putting numbers in specific places on the daily report form.  Not too difficult, just time consuming.

I actually enjoyed the process – go figure…..

When I saw how Visicalc could be used to do the math for me, I was hooked on using a spreadsheet to help my store function.  I was able to reduce the amount of time it took to prepare my daily report to under 5 minutes.  It took more time to enter the figures onto the 5 part form, than it did to "do the math".

My first computer epiphany – Visicalc would help small business owners "do the math" and gain better control of the numbers it took to run their business. 

Every small business owner needed a TRS-80 Model III and Visicalc.

I was not alone!  According to Wikipedia, Visicalc is credited for turning personal computers into a serious business tool. 

Over the years I migrated toward Lotus 123 and eventually to Excel.  I still love spreadsheets and crunching numbers.

I get asked every so often how I became the Technology Pro.

People want to know if I studied computers in college. I took one class on computers in college. Not a semester long course, but one class as a part of a calculus course I took freshman year.

I got involved with computers when I worked for Radio Shack in the very early 80’s. I sold my first computer by answering the phone and referring the customer to the Radio Shack Computer Center in Fort Worth. Salt Lake didn’t have its own center yet. A few weeks later I received a very large commission check with a note explaining what the customer had purchased.

I didn’t have a clue at that point why a small business would want a computer in the first place. For the most part there really wasn’t any software that would run out of the box.

A few months later, the first customer asked me if I could get them a word processor program. I, a true salesman, said that I would deliver it to them as soon as possible. I called the local Radio Shack Computer Center and asked if they knew what a word processor program was and if they had such a beast. They did and soon so would my customer.

I made arrangements to pick up a copy of Scripsit, Radio Shack’s word processor du jour. I asked the folks at the Computer Center if they could show me how the program worked, so I could teach my customer something when I delivered it. They told me that it had just come in that day and they hadn’t even looked at it. Try it out they told me and tell us what it does.

Having never used a computer for anything but a simple game and a bit of basic programming, I was a bit unnerved.

I cautiously removed the 8″ floppy disk from its packaging and mounted it in the disk drive. After several minutes of whirling the program was loaded into the very generous 64K of ram that the system had. I then did something I rarely ever do these days, I open the manual to learn to use the program.

It took less than an hour for me to learn that word processing was the computer version of a typewriter – on steroids. In no time I was able to center, bold and indent at the click of a – no by using keystrokes and control keys. I also learned to paginate.

I also learned something about myself…. I liked computers and I took to them quickly.

I was hooked, though I wasn’t convinced that the typical small business – remember this was 1980 – would ever get any real benefit from a computer in the office, let alone on every desk.

Remember the Fram Oil Filter commercial that used that tag line?

This is how I feel many times.

I spend about a third of my time fixing client’s computer problems. Printers that don’t print, routers that don’t route, and computers, well you get the picture.

I have a couple of presentations and workshops in which I teach people how to keep their computers working well. I have one called 7 Simple Steps to Trouble Free Computing and another called Safe Computer Use. Both are chock full of tips and tricks that you can use to keep your computers running in tip top shape.

I would love to tell you that people just flock to these sessions and when they leave the are so highly motivated to take action that they rush back to the office and immediately implement everything I taught them.

Oh, in a perfect world!

I spent a lot of time this past week fixing problems that should not have happened. A couple of people got spyware by going to suspect websites or by opening emails that they should not have opened. A client had a corrupt database and restoring the backup go him back up and running.

The most frustrating issue was a client who had their firewall/router fail and though they did have some documentation on how it was set up, I still took me about 2 hours and a whole lot of luck to get them back online.

What frustrated me most was that we had talked several times in the past about creating a network notebook and a disaster plan. Had we completed these, we would have been up and running in about 10 minutes.

Pay me now or pay me later – now is much less expensive than later.

It’s not that I don’t like Apple computers, it just that I never really used them. Or had use for them for that matter.

I live and work in the PC World. My clients use PC’s and I help them learn to use computers to grow their businesses. It is what it is.

I do have a Mac, a used Powerbook G4, and I have an iPod Nano.

So when I told my friends and clients that I was going to have dinner with Steve Wozniac, an Apple founder, they were a bit confused. Why would I want to meet Woz when I was most definitely a PC type of guy.

Imagine if you worked in the car industry and had a chance to meet Henry Ford, or if you were a physicist and Albert Einstein invited you to dinner. This was one of those guys to me.

Mostly, I want to say thank you to someone who helped created the personal computer revolution. Most of us have a hard time remembering what it was like in the late 70’s and early 80’s when we ran businesses without computers.

I was surprised at first when Kellie called and told me that I could meet Woz for dinner last Friday night. I have to admit that I was really excited. My mind raced with possible questions. I also asked a few of my friends what they would ask him. In the end, my main question was about how he came up with the idea of a personal computer.

I asked WOZ about the start of Apple and how he got started with computers. He shared with me his story and to be honest there were some technical parts that went a little over my head. What impressed me was how he watched and learned how others did things and then adapted these things to his projects. And then made them better.

I learned that Woz participates in something called Segway Polo and that his team has been very successful. Woz shared some of his thoughts on current technologies such as Twitter, Facebook and Google Apps. All very interesting.

Woz also shared some of his experiences on Dancing with the Stars. I have never seen the show, though I now know a bit about it.

All in all it was a wonderful experience. Steve is a very down to earth, regular guy.

I am THE Technology PRO!

I have told people for years that I am not a geek, that I am a guru with geek tendencies. Yes, it is true that I worked in the audio visual department in college and I did work for Radio Shack for several years. Yes it is true that I have 6 computers for my personal use and there are computer parts in every room in my house. I even got paid once to program a VCR – a Beta Max no less.

But I am not, I repeat, I am not a GEEK!

Though, maybe I really am at heart.

Utah, where I live, has always been a hotbed for technology. WordPerfect and Novell were both started here. Recently, I became aware of a new company Fusion IO. The have a way cool storage drive that just blows away the competition.

Somewhere I had read that Steve Wozniac, WOZ, an APPLE founder, was involved with the company. I thought (geek moment here) that it would be interesting to meet WOZ and primarily thank him for founding the industry that keeps my wife happy and the family fed. And that was the end of my geek moment.

Time goes by as it always does and I was chatting with my friend Kellie and she shared with me that her husband had just hired on at Fusion IO. I mentioned that I knew of the company and that if WOZ ever came to town, I would like to meet him. And that was that.

A few weeks ago, while dining at my favorite local Chinese place, I ran into Kellie and her husband Mike, whom I had not met. We chatted and I mentioned to Mike that I thought it would be cool(though not geeky) to meet Woz, and suggested that if he ever came to town, maybe Mike could set something up. And that was that.

Friday morning Kellie calls and asks me what I am doing at 5:00 that evening. I was hesitant with my answer, thinking that Kellie needed me to do some project for her. Who works at 5:00 on a Friday? Who works on Friday? Kellie informed me that I would be having dinner with WOZ at 5:00 if I didn’t have any other plans.

Plans, geeks don’t have plans……

I was going to have dinner with Steve Wozniac – WOZ !!!

It seems that Woz was in town for some meeting with the Fusion IO folks. Mike(Kellie’s husband) sat next to Woz and told him that I wanted to meet him. He, Woz, suggested that we have dinner together.

And that is exactly what we did. One on One – just me and Woz….. My finest geeky hour, actually 2 hours.

Tomorrow, I will share more details about our diner. The conversation, not the meal.