Winter 2020 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
Must-Have Tech: Then & Now
From typewriters to laptops, rotary phones to smartphones, OHIO’s students are always in step with cutting-edge tech. No matter the device at their fingertips, Bobcats over the decades still use tech for the same reasons.
Jamie Clarkson, BSJ '20 | February 20, 2020
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Tech is used as a tool by students to be successful in and out of the classroom. When it came to homework, Wendy Mandel, AB ’88, was able to tick away at her Brother electric typewriter from the comfort of her room in Jefferson Hall, saving her many late-night trips to the use-by-appointment-only computer labs at Alden Library. Today, a student’s laptop is an essential tool for completing and submitting assignments entirely online, from anywhere.
Tech has always allowed students to ensure the highest quality in their work. Mandel purchased fancy stationary from the College Book Store to give her term papers a special touch. Now, students use online resources like Google Docs to have classmates view and edit their work to double- and triple-check assignments that encompass their semester’s work.
Before the cell phone, students connected with the folks back home by purchasing a calling card. In the late ’90s, Teresa Barney, BSSE ’99, used her card—and had the multi-digit number memorized—to make long-distance calls to her family.