Muriel Viner talked to Sheena Jhurry and Daniella Nicholls. Muriel recalls the technology which assisted her work in the Army and in various offices. In particular she remembered using manual typewriters, which although very heavy, were very reliable. She remembers her first encounter with an electric typewriter was an IBM Golf Ball.

Before the Second World War, Muriel worked as a switchboard operator in the Army. In order to connect a call long plugs were pulled out of the operators board and put into a hole in the board. The board had 'eyeballs' which came down to show the extension number.

"It was very quick and the quality of sound was very good"

Muriel also talked about her early memories of technology in the home.When she was a child, lighting was mainly generated by oil lamps, which gave a soft light. Heating was mainly obtained from coal fires, but she remembers her grandmother had a 'Range', a big cast iron fire with ovens on either side and the fire in the middle. The fire heated the ovens and also on one side was a big container which heated the water. She herself remembers cooking on a Triplex cooker

Listen to Muriel talking about the Triplex.

Overall Muriel thinks that technology has changed a great deal and has made a large impact on everyone's life, with the positive aspects only slightly outweighing the negative. She feels that it is a pity that technology has had more impact on entertainment than on education. Although changes have been dramatic and difficult to adapt to, she feels that they have generally improved the standard of living