The Good Old Days...
I've been bit by the nostalgia bug recently. As I reminisce, I can't help but recall when I first started freelance writing. It has only been six years since I was first published but so much has changed. My first article was a travel piece on a trip I had taken to Saudi Arabia. The query letter was sent in via snail mail to the editor and was accepted via a 30 second phone call from the editor to my answering machine. The article was sent in via snail mail a week ahead of deadline to make sure it arrived on the editor's desk in time. Pictures I had taken that would run with the article were included in the package with the double-spaced article. I hadn't even heard of JPEG and would have guessed it was a children's toy of some sort if someone would've asked me.
Things are so much easier now in most ways for writers than they were in the Dark Ages. We can do research and conduct interviews without leaving home 90% of the time. We cut and paste to revise instead of typing the whole document again from scratch. Articles and images can be e-mailed to editors with seconds to spare before deadline. We can get back to editors in the middle of the night as most prefer e-mail communication. Despite all the progress, it's tempting to daydream about being the next Hemingway; writing in the old slave quarters of his Key West house, taking mental breaks as he gazes out at the ocean, and breathing in the salt air as he pounds away at his Royal portable typewriter. Personally, I'd want a kick-ass air-conditioner instead of a creaky, old fan though...