Normal Childhood

The first computer in my house as a kid was an IBM PC Jr. My dad got it second hand from his boss and he never learned how to use it. He had a vague sense that his kids should learn how to use computers and just by having one in the house we'd figure it out. We did. I never got too far beyond loading games and playing flight simulator, but my older brother became quite proficient. In the early years of high school my brother got into computers in a big way and I tagged along. A friend ran a BBS site and we were on the cutting edge in these days before the internet. This was back when you had to dial up to individual computers to talk to them. 2400 baud modems and setting them to re-dial over and over until you could get through. I learned basic programming in high school and how to use word processors and spread sheets, valuable skills. I wasn't exposed to the internet, the real internet, with it's web pages and e-mail until college. E-mail was still typed out using arcane text editors that required wizard levels of skill to navigate. This just wasn't that long ago.
The idea of dialing an individual computer seems silly now. The idea of dialing up anything with your computer seems silly. The internet is always on and you're connected through the air with WiFi. My six year old can pull the laptop off the shelf and sit down to use it. She opens it up and fires up a web browser and navigates to one of the game sites that she plays on. She enters her user ID and password and it's all quite normal. This is a normal childhood, and I watch in amazement.