1995 Flashback: First-time PC user can’t work computer

In this “CBS Evening News” report from May 22, 1995, a first-time personal computer user was featured to underscore the challenges in adopting the new technology. Former CBS News correspondent Reed Galin reports.

[CaptainVelveeta]

Nearly 30 years later the printer is still the most problematic piece of machinery on the planet.

[dannyzero]

"For many newcomers, PC stands for *Pain* and *Confusion* "
I died laughing at that part

[nigefal]

'Press any key....'

'Where's the any key?'

[widowmakerx]

As someone who works in the IT field, a lot of people are still this confused

[inocente]

Legend has it, she's still trying to plugged it in..

[Haffy]

All of those IT guys who had to deal with 'newbies' every single day are the real legends here.

[obienator]

Jamie is still fighting that damn printer to this day in 2024

[numtot]

$2, 800 in 1995 = almost $6, 000 in todays money….for a laptop. Insane how much the price of computers has come down over the year.

[saurabhgi]

“4 megabyte memory” ah, the gold standard

[Kimchi_Studios]

A moment of silence for all the call center employees from the 90's who helped us get to this point.

[ilay_ux]

the amount of self talking from this lady is amazing, my spirit animal

[stickdapoint]

Nearly 30yrs later, not much has changed. Gen-Xers and younger grew up with tech, but we still have A LOT of ppl in the workplace that have simply memorized the steps to their job on a computer, and anytime anything happens outside of that sequence, their whole world gets flipped upside-down.

[wolfarix]

To this day my dad’s mind is still blown over the fact that he needed training software to learn how to control his cursor and I was able to naturally figure it out as a kid.

[yoteslaya]

My grandma used to always call me before she deleted any file on her computer. She was terrified she would break it.

[mastershooter]

This is crazy! Just 20 years later we have computers everywhere! from our cars to our pockets!

[bottlerocket]

"It's printing way too large and I don't know why" - a problem that still happens in 2021, from personal experience, lol.

[MikeStavola]

Back then, it was a severe mistake to buy a laptop as your first PC.

[fireraid]

Describing computers as pain and confusion has to be the most incredibly well aged quote of the century. I swear to god every time I have a "small" problem there's an iceberg under it the size of long island.

[mrsTraveller]

I can still clearly remember when we got the first computer to my job, I was 37 years old, and a guy came to teach us how to use it. We sat in a circle just staring in disbelief, he picked me first to come and try it. He said put your hand on the mouse and start moving it slowly, I first asked what's a mouse??? After he told me I asked "like how"??? He said oh, you have never used a computer? I said NO I HAVEN'T, WHERE WOULD I HAVE USED ONE??? No one had them at home yet, and I thought I'd never ever learn how to use it..

[MitchellWiggs]

the first lady looks like she's just figuring out what electricity is