My first ever encounter with a computer happened in 1983. I had just been appointed as Principal at Nhulunbuy Primary School.

Nhulunbuy was a mining town and I was invited by the mining company Nabalco, to visit their facilities.

Nabalco had recently installed a computer to assist with product analysis.

It was incredible. It was made up of interconnected metal cabinets that whirred and clicked incessantly. The huge room, full with these units had the memory and operational capacity of a Commodore 64 computer.

Such a massive machine with a capacity many times less than this 6S mobile phone.

That day, I was so very impressed by what was a huge experience.

The company believed theirs was the first computer to be set up and operated in the NT.

That day was an experience in appreciating computer technology never to be forgotten.