The Internet of Communication

We should consider ourselves fortunate to be born in an era which witnessed a boom in the world of communication and we are young enough to comprehend and use the new technology. The last decade has seen a contrast in use of technology which is hard to miss. In the present day we are always connected with our near and dear ones no matter where in the world they are. I am sure this was not possible a decade back.
Every house has seen the progress in its own way. I still remember the first TV that we had in our house in the late 80’s. It was a BPL TV with 12 channels and obviously no remote control. (My niece and nephew find it very hard to believe that the TVs never had a remote control. I feel very old with them :P.) Since there was no cable connection, only one channel was in use and hence there was no use of a remote control to change channels every minute. One person (that would be me) would sit near the TV to control the volume.
Then came the telephone and the telephone number consisting of just 5 digits. It was a pride moment in school when I gave my telephone number to my friends. We used to call each other just for the fun of using the phone. But right now I feel sorry for my landline. Once it was the cynosure of my eyes. Every ring of the landline was surely a call for me from my friends. My parents never bothered to answer the phone before 10 PM. Those the times when elders of the family used to be awake till 1030 PM because after that the STD rates were half as compared to the rest of the day.
And then of course came today’s most used mode of communication: The Internet. The first form of internet connection available was the dial up connection. One had to disconnect the landline and plug the connection to the LAN card of the computer. So that meant no phone calls while you use the internet. I still remember the loud noise that the connection used to make. (Click here to listen to it. Very Nostalgic). I used to wait till 1030 PM to connect to the internet because even that used to be charged at half the rate. Checking mails was a task that was done once in 2 or 3 days. It’s hard to believe. Today I check my mail every 2 or 3 minutes. The modem is on 24/7 and I have a wireless router in my house. The life seems to be paralyzed on a day when the broadband connection doesn’t work.
Let me not forget the device that has become a part of our lives so much so that we consider it as a part of our own body. The moment we lose sight of it, we turn the whole place upside down in search of it. That’s when the landline comes handy – to dial your mobile number and locate it. (Oh, if you have a habit of keeping your mobile phone in silent mode, then even the landline can’t help you much!) The mobile phones arrived when we were still in school. I was so excited when my brother got a cell phone. The tariff plan of the service provider included three (YES, 3) free messages per day. I used to wait till my brother came back from office, so that I could use those 3 messages to send just a good night message to my friend’s dad’s mobile phone. When I got my cell phone in college, even the 100 free messages per day were less sometimes.
Before the era of cell phones, if someone went out of station, the only information that we used to receive is when the person called after reaching the destination and before boarding the bus/train back home. When I was in 6th Std, I was selected to represent my school in Social Science exhibition. I was away from home for almost a week and I had called my home just 2 times. If I were to go out of home for a week now, I would be expected to give hourly updates of my whereabouts, about what I ate, when I slept and so on and so forth.
The technology has definitely improved our life style, but it has also changed us emotionally. We have become more impatient. We get frustrated if a telephone call is not getting connected. We don’t know what to do if there is no power supply at home. I am not trying to preach anything here because I belong to this generation. I am used to having dinner while watching TV. If the cable connection has a problem on a day, the silence at the dinner table haunts everyone at home.
I think we should analyze how much we depend on the technology and use it to an optimum level. Just imagine if one day all the electrical appliances in the world stop to work. What would you do? ;)