Back in the 80's I got my first home computer. It was a Sinclair ZX81. This at the time was the most brilliant thing that I could have ever received. I was 5 at the time and it was amazing. I don't remember the games too well and I don't think I had any at the time to be fair. I just remember trying to program it in BASIC and getting highly frustrated at the whole process of lines and numbers.

I quickly realised how fun it was to have this raw interface in front of you that you could do practically anything with. No restrictions and unlimited possibilities that would make the computing world of the 80's so original, fresh and new.

I noticed allot of people were shying away from computers and unlike today, there was no community that people could gather in to share ideas as there was very little knowledge of the concept and what to do with it for the average person.

I later got an Acorn Electron and that was for me the most exciting computer I had ever used. I still to this day don't know why but it had this feeling of excitement and entertainment that brought the whole family together. The laughter was heard as we tried to get to the next level of Boxer or complete Frankenstein. The screeching of the tape deck with the deflation when it failed to load. I would still love to own one now and I think the same enthusiasm would be there.

Through the 80's and 90's there were well over 600 computer companies battling for a place in the market. Most of them as we know fell at the first hurdle. The market could never sustain that many manufacturers. Sinclair and Acorn were 2 of those, it saddens me to say but that was how it went. Sinclair was way ahead of his time and Curry tried way too hard to build things without thinking of them being possible.

You could say that it was 2 great minds that had ideas that even today are being used. The technology such as the ARM chip that Acorn developed being placed in EVERY mobile phone and the electric car that Sinclair developed being implemented now to save the climate.

Computers have quickly become one of the most advanced pieces of technology that has ever arrived into our homes. Nearly every household has one and most could not live without one.

We have them in our phones, TV’s, washing machines, ATM and just about everywhere else.

They have become an integral part of life and business.

We have Windows, Intel and others making millions each year through sales and one thing struck me, just one simple thought when I cast back to the days of the ZX81, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron.

It just doesn't seem that fun anymore. That feeling of freshness that came from those computers has gone because we expect the computers to do the same as each other. Just work a little faster.

It seems computers will continue to advance at an ever changing pace and we all look forward to the next new upgrade, gadget or software advance.

Computers have become an important part of our life because we let them. We joined the ranks of people who set a trend to communicate and interact with the rest.

One time they were like having the first TV in your street and now they are just another item that is accepted as part of our culture as human beings.

From becoming the most alien piece of technology in our homes the computer in all its forms has become one of the most used pieces of technology ever created.

Who would have thought it?