The author shares their most joyous memories of technology, starting with the launch of ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs) in 2006. These mini Windows machines, with a physical keyboard, fascinated the author. Although they could not afford it, the author stumbled upon a promotional endcap of UMPC devices in an electronics store, which made them feel like they had met a celebrity.
Another moment of tech bliss for the author was when they were in high school and discovered that they could ditch USB sticks and use Gmail’s generous storage limits to email files to each other from across the table. It felt like magic.
The author believes that technology has a beautiful way of showing you new shortcuts or new ways of thinking that were previously hidden. This is how the author felt during the iPhone launch. However, there haven’t been many moments that gave the author the same jolt as their past experiences.
One notable moment for the author was when they fell in love with Twitter and realized they could tweet as much as they wanted without constraint, and when they had their own blog on the internet, which freed them from any publishing limitations.
