This is to thank Tom Moore:
I
haven't thought about this for a long time, but I was reminded recently
when I complained about difficulties in jumping from a flip phone to a
smart phone. Our daughter, Beth, chastised me, reminding me that when
she grew up, we were the first families among her friends to get
computers and cell phones. (We thank our son, Jason, who insisted on a
cell phone in 1994 – when he was just in high school but earning enough
money cooking at A&W to foot his bill).
But for the computers. I don’t exactly remember when Art convinced me we needed to buy a Commadore 20. It couldn’t do much that impressed me. Then the Commadore 64 came along shortly after.
And Tom Moore, bless his heart, spent hours with a computer magazine inputing a word processing program – which he shared on floppy discs with all who wanted it. Somehow Dennis McEaneney got involved and got the home computers to talk to the Beacon computers. The next thing I knew I was able to send a story from my home in Tallmadge to the Beacon!! Hooking the phone modem up, praying we didn't get a call and watching 0s and 1s spin through it. But it worked.
At the time, the Beacon had a limited number of tempermental remotes. But they were grabbed up by reviewers and sports guys. For a mother with young kids – our day care closed at 6 p.m. - it was a miracle. It was late 1983, I think. I could go home, finish writing my story, and send it. It would be a decade before I even heard the word e-mail.
But thanks to the pains-taking patience of Tom Moore, many reporters (and correspondents) joined the digital age.
But for the computers. I don’t exactly remember when Art convinced me we needed to buy a Commadore 20. It couldn’t do much that impressed me. Then the Commadore 64 came along shortly after.
And Tom Moore, bless his heart, spent hours with a computer magazine inputing a word processing program – which he shared on floppy discs with all who wanted it. Somehow Dennis McEaneney got involved and got the home computers to talk to the Beacon computers. The next thing I knew I was able to send a story from my home in Tallmadge to the Beacon!! Hooking the phone modem up, praying we didn't get a call and watching 0s and 1s spin through it. But it worked.
At the time, the Beacon had a limited number of tempermental remotes. But they were grabbed up by reviewers and sports guys. For a mother with young kids – our day care closed at 6 p.m. - it was a miracle. It was late 1983, I think. I could go home, finish writing my story, and send it. It would be a decade before I even heard the word e-mail.
But thanks to the pains-taking patience of Tom Moore, many reporters (and correspondents) joined the digital age.
~ Charlene Nevada
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