The postman pushed a package through the letterbox. The delivery of anything by a regular postman is always a surprise these days, especially when no one is expecting it! As the Badger bent down to pick the package up, alarm bells went off in his head as the security training during his career kicked in. Could this be something dangerous? These fleeting thoughts were quickly allayed because there was a return to sender name and address handwritten across the sealed end. It was from an old friend that the Badger had caught up with recently over Zoom. The package was opened to reveal two CD-ROMs holding 40 of his friend’s favourite songs from the 1970s.
The Badger chuckled. His friend is an entertainer who’s passionate about the music of the 1970s, and during our Zoom session we had reminisced about the music and technology of that decade, and our good times together. They had sent the CDs to test if the Badger still has devices that play this ‘old technology’ that first arrived in the early 1980s. The Badger has, and the sounds of the 1970’s filled the home for the rest of the day! Tunes like ‘Mouldy old Dough’ by Lieutenant Pigeon, ‘Sundown’ by Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Joybringer’ by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, and ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ by the Rolling Stones’ echoed through the house as a reminder that they were part of the soundtrack to the 1970s decade of innovation and technological change.
The Badger remembers the BBC’s launch of CEEFAX 50 years ago in 1974! It was a world first allowing viewers to access text-based information on their TV sets – an internet before the internet! The same decade saw the arrival of battery-operated pocket electronic calculators, electronic ignition systems becoming standard on cars, microprocessors, the start of Apple and Microsoft, the 747 Jumbo Jet, Concorde commercial flights, MRI machines, the Sony Walkman, barcodes, floppy discs and email. There were countless scientific and technological advances, and also an oil crisis and the emergence of Punk!
Today’s life is dominated by digital technology that was science fiction in the 1970s. Developments since have been phenomenal and made the Badger’s career in IT always interesting, perpetually challenging, rewarding, and full of learning. So, if you are a student about to start, for example, a new year at University, then work hard, be inquisitive, learn as much as you can, extend your interests and boundaries, and remember that the technology you use today will be obsolete before long. Remember that today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality, and that good music will be played for decades and transcend the generations. After all, music from bands like Abba, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Queen, Blondie and many more is still popular today proving that the best music ever comes the 1970s!
