# What job would today's IT professional have had in 1954, 1904?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-would-todays-it-professional-have-had-in-1954-1904/691616>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 25, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-would-todays-it-professional-have-had-in-1954-1904/691616 "2014-06-25T16:12:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-would-todays-it-professional-have-had-in-1954-1904/691616/21 "2014-06-26T12:02:10Z")

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> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#):
>
> Some IT professionals would have been [computers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_computer). 😃

Sounds like a lot of fun! :dubious:

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-would-todays-it-professional-have-had-in-1954-1904/691616/22 "2014-06-26T15:22:01Z")

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> [@bump](#):
>
> I kind of suspect we’d be in normal jobs- factories, dairies, banks, etc… and tinkering with stuff in our garages on our own time.
> 
> I say this because one of my grandfathers was a stereotypical IT guy, at least in the fascination with technology and interest in building things and seeing how they work. He was very socially adept and not weird in the least though, except that he was intensely interested in whatever passed for high technology at the time- aircraft in the 1940s, and electronics/television in the 1950s and 60s.
> 
> He worked as an operator at a chemical plant that made polyethylene for his post-war career.

Forgot to mention that he BUILT his own color TV in the 1960s (at some point before they were common) from some sort of kit, and troubleshot/maintained it up through the 1980s, when the vacuum tubes and other parts were getting too hard to come by.

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**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-job-would-todays-it-professional-have-had-in-1954-1904/691616/23 "2014-06-26T16:32:37Z")

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I do application support at a bank. It’s a quasi-technical position. 50 years ago, I’d have been happy in the steno pool.

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