When I was in my teens, my dad used to tell me that when he was a kid, a slice of pizza cost a nickel. I didn’t think much of it. I was getting a slice and a coke for a buck at that time. Not too bad, I thought. Things change. Now as a father myself, I understand what he was trying to tell me. Cost has certainly gone up over the years. Pizza for my sons costs quite a bit more than when I was a kid.

Growing up, I was always interested in technology. My first personal “computer” was a Commodore 128. It had a whopping 128K in memory–yes, 128K; “blazing” fast 2 MHz CPU; and a gorgeous monochrome monitor. I was on top of the world! I could use a word processor to produce my school papers and save them to a 5 1/4-inch floppy disk. I had a state-of-the-art spellchecking program that came on 6 floppy disks that checked my work in an hour flat! Say goodbye to that Smith Corona typewriter and whiteout. I was going high tech!

By the end of my college days, the computer labs were outfitted with the best available IBM PC-XT computers. With 640K RAM, 3 1/2-inch floppy drives, 20MB hard drives, and color graphics! Wow, change was good! The operating system now loaded from the hard drive. Adios to those floppy boot disks. Widespread Internet usage was still in its growth phase and access was mostly limited by modem speed and available phone lines. I remember using some rudimentary system to send a message to a friend of mine studying in Boston. Basic text, nothing more. We were both amazed that it worked. Today, by contrast, email is so commonplace that I get email from my 9-year-old niece using her Apple iPad.

My youngest son, who recently turned 3, received an iPad mini from his grandparents for his birthday. It took me a few days to teach him how to use a single finger to swipe, touch and drag items on the screen in the different educational apps on the device. Now he is a pro. He knows how to turn the device on, select or deselect the app he wants to play with, and how to scroll on YouTube to his favorite nursery rhyme videos. I truly am in awe to see how he interfaces with the iPad and how quickly he learns to use this technology. There is simply no comparison from where he is starting out technologically to what I had available to me years ago.

Our Spitfire Project Management System has seen its share of changes and advancements since I started working here. From several of its underlying technologies to structural components and a modern face lift, the latest version is superior is so many ways to previous versions. Each version’s long list of enhancements and new capabilities has displayed Spitfire Management’s commitment to keep the product in pace with current technologies. I am always curious to see what Development is working on next!

I wonder what wonderful advances in technology my sons will see in their lifetime. I wonder what wonderful advances in technology I will see with the Spitfire Project Management System in the next few years. After all, while change is not so good when it means higher prices for pizza, it is most definitely good when it comes to technological advances. The changes so far have truly been remarkable.