1. For one thing, it looked like this:
2. Or worse, it might've shared the kitchen or dining room — where everybody could see you.
3. Your parents had to log you in...
4. You learned how to play one-player games with two people out of sheer necessity.
5. You expressed yourself by choosing from half a dozen desktop themes.
6. You played games on 3½-inch floppy disks.
7. You couldn't even start a game without knowing some MS-DOS commands.
8. This was considered a pretty good controller:
9. Your mechanical mouse would not work without a mouse pad.
10. You actually used this thing:
11. Color printing was a luxury known to very few.
12. You couldn't look up current events or movies because you had last year's editions of Encarta and Cinemania.
13. Dial-up was as good as it got.
And it still took almost three minutes to download 1 MB.
14. People learned web jargon through VHS tapes and reference books.
15. The best graphics were reserved for the screensaver.
16. You were only as good as your 3D pinball score.
17. Installing a game sometimes took more than one disc — which got scratched or lost.
18. Your brother or sister would always eject your CD — AND NOT PUT IT BACK IN ITS CASE.
19. Shutting down the computer meant turning off the power strip underneath the desk.
20. And finally, one computer meant you were always sharing it — with everybody.
We've come a long way. Retire the old beige desktop for good — with Intel-powered tablets and 2 in 1 devices!
