With older relatives, I often get high praise for my ability to use technology efficiently. With great pride, my grandparents and great-aunts and great-uncles, sing praises of my abilities. Some of my abilities that my family advertises:Varsha can fix the speakers! (I put the cable into the socket) Varsha can fix the camera! (I uploaded photographs)Perhaps I could add to my resume - I can find 'Contact Us' on a website. I can change a printer cartridge. I can download and use Skype. I can burn a CD (and a DVD). I can use a pen drive to carry files from the computer to the laptop. I can send music via email. I can use a DVD player. I can attach speakers to a music system. I am, apparently, the source of knowledge and information about everything technological, including how to use Bluetooth, 'Download App', touch-screen, wireless internet . . .What an interesting resume that would … [Read more...]
Prized Modern Inventions
I remember my great grandfather (who, incidentally, lived to be 105) watching cricket on TV. The volume was very low and that, for some reason, used to annoy me. It was like a constant buzz - neither silent nor noisy. His logic was that he was deaf and would not be able to hear anyway, so the television might as well be soft instead of adding to the noise around him. My grandfather has become like that too. He watches the news; he does not listen to it. It does not bother me so much because at least there's no annoying buzz.My grandfather, of late, has started talking very slowly, thinking things through, weighing his words and all that. Two days ago, he said to me, "You know ... the modern generation ... the twentieth century ... even the twenty-first century ... the world has seen many, many technological advancements." I nodded, wondering where he was going from here. A point … [Read more...]
Dysfunctional Internet
I remember when internet did not exist.I remember when internet at home was unheard of and we always had to go to a Cyber Cafe. I remember when internet at home was the standard dial up connection with loud trrrrrrrr-tiktiktiktiktiktiktik-peeeeeep-peeeeep-khrrrr-peeeeee-khrrrr I remember when the flashing modem constantly made me squirm and count how many minutes I'd already been online.Then came broadband, which was, wow, silent and fast! Not so many awful minutes of waiting for pages to load and thinking of high telephone bills.Then came unlimited broadband. Silent, fast and inexpensive.When I remember all of this, why do I feel so uncomfortable when the internet is not working? … [Read more...]