30 years of technology: where we came from, where we need to go.

• Author: Curtis, John
• Position: SILICON SLOPES - Editorial

The first laptop I owned was a Radio Shack TRS80. I purchased it as a senior at Brigham Young University in 1985. In today's dollars it cost about $4,500--a fortune for a married student. Although I purchased it because I wanted to be ahead of the technology curve, I found myself slightly embarrassed to pull it out in any of my classes. I remember a proud moment when I upgraded the 32K of memory to 64K. With that much memory I could write and store several letters or one school paper. I quickly learned that I could use a cassette tape to download my data to free up memory.

I've lost track of the names and number of computers that I've owned since that time. None of them have impacted my life the way that first computer did over 30 years ago. In today's world it's almost impossible to be the first to adopt anything, and even for those who adopt early, the time to enjoy that solitude is short. In 1985 buying a laptop put me in a unique class for a very long time. I used the laptop in my first job and I learned that my credibility with customers jumped off the charts when I pulled out my 64K marvel of technology.

Seven years ago I experimented with social media. As a mayoral candidate I was encouraged to open a Facebook account. I opened the account and just like the feeling I had upgrading to 64K of memory, I thought I was pretty cool when I was able to report that I had recruited a dozen friends. Once again the experience has been life changing. I love that I can see videos of my grandkids via Snapchat, communicate with my family and friends on Facebook, and broadcast the State of the City on Periscope.

As a guy who grew up with a party line in our home, I love being around people...