Starting in 1971

I have always been fascinated by technology, hence my chosen career.  As far back as I can remember technology was more than just a fascination, it became a compulsion.  As a child I stared in a couple of television commercials which gave me the means to dabble in toys and technologies.

In 1971 Bowmar/Ali Inc. (USA) was marketing a new technology.  It was the first electronic calculator and although its functions were limited to add, subtract, multiply and divide it was still the most revolutionary product on the market at that time.  I had to have and I knew someone who had already purchased one.  Temple Allen was the owner of The Hickory House at the time and he had picked one up during a trip home to Texas.  As soon as I saw it I immediately began the process to convince Temple to sell it to me.  Resistance was futile and in just a few weeks I became to new owner of my very own “Bowmar Brain.” 

I took my new toy to school and was immediately the center of the known universe.  Everyone wanted to check it out including the teachers.  Unfortunately, being able to use it in class was immediately banned and the toy was no longer a welcome guest.  Within 6 months calculators began to flood the market and with them the prices plummeted.  I paid nearly $250.00 for my Bowmar brain and a year later you could get a Casio Electronics calculator that did a lot more for less than $75.00.  Today you can get one by simply signing up for Sports Illustrated.

Not to sit back and let the technology world pass me by, I was on the hunt for the next great gadget and I did not have to wait long.  It happened in February 1973 when I went to visit my friend, Cary Guy.  His father, Peter had a business partner in a restaurant and he was in town visiting.  George Randall was a fan of all things new and different and on his wrist he was sporting a new watch.  It was called the Pulsar stainless steel P2 and it was the first LED watch ever made.  To make it even cooler, you set it by holding a small magnet next to it.  This was the watch James Bond wore in the first half of “Live and Let Die” until he replaced it with a magnet Rolex.

Again, I had to have it and when George told me what it would cost I went directly to The Bank of Aspen and got the cash.  Once again I was the center of attention at school the next day, only this time there was no reason for the teachers to ban my toy as it did not help me do anything but tell the time.  This watch was only able to display hours, minutes and seconds so the technology was soon to be replaced by more functional timepieces. 

I still own this watch and recently ordered an adapter for the batteries since the size of batteries it was originally designed to use are no longer manufactured.  As a matter of fact, I still have my “Bowmar Brain” as well.

In time, if you will pardon the pun, I purchased a number of LCD watches over the years as they progressed through the technology curve.  At one point I even had a solar powered LCD watch.  Ironically, in about 1985 I started wearing analog watches and have done so ever since. 

If you were to look back into my past you would know that my proclivity to get new technologies has never abated.  In computers I have owned 8088, 8086, XT, AT, 286, 386, 486 and Pentium models and even a Mac at one point.  I have owned 8-track tapes, saw the arrival of cassette tape players and was an early adopter of music compact discs.  I am not attempting to gloat about this, in fact if you think about the time and effort I have invested to stay ahead of the curve, many might think of it as a psychosis.