A Tribute To Communication Technology

I am not exactly a person who is regularly in touch with the latest technological developments. I think I can depend on Sharbeen ( my School friend or in other words a tech-guy) for all the latest happenings in the world of technology. But nevertheless, I have to say that with all the latest developments especially in the communications sector, only a fool will not be impressed. Bluetooth, Infrared, the mobile technology, internet, googleearth etc. All this may be quite old right now, after all the world is developing very fast, but if you look at it in my way , you will definitly understand as to why I am making a very big deal out of it . I mean ten years back,who would have thought all this was even possible ? Transferring files from mobile to mobile or having video calls and conversations were probably only shown in futiristic movies ! The reason as to why all this development looks extra amazing to me is probably because I have grown up in a family with siblings six to seven years older to me , which is almost like a generation gap.

When I was young, the only means of communication that I saw my siblings use was the telephone! I actually remember my sister having a tough time applying to colleges and unviersities because we did not have an access to the internet that time. I remember my brother calling the universities to check on them just because we could not e-mail them. It was either the telephone or the postal system, both of which had its own problems. I dont remember if we ever owned a fax machine, so I doubt my siblings ever used that. In other words, it was almost an impossible task to search and apply for the appropriate university. Looking at them, I really did not want to finish school ! The application process to the universities seemed so problematic , confusing and hard back then. Well, they finally did get admission in Bangladesh, it was easier there because the application was probably submitted by hand. I think it was 2001 back then and till then my siblings never used mobiles! To own a mobile was something really very amazing to us at that time ! And thats one of the reasons why I remember my brothers face when he got his first mobile set, it was a low priced alcatel, but even then he was so happy that he came to me and actually gave me a hug !

I think that was also the year when my siblings got introduced to " Broadband" one of the fastest internet connections. This reminds of a mail that my sister wrote to me 6 years back. She was like " Elin , broadband is so cool, you can actually stay online the whole time" And back then I was mesmerized! I also remember, that when I was 11 years old , my friends who had access to the net used tell me all kinds of stories. They used to narrate stories about going to America, Disney land and meeting stars like Shahruk Khan and Salman Khan through the net! I have to admit I was a dum kid back then and unfortunately I believed them. As a result, accessing the internet was one of my greatest dreams!

6 years have passed by since then, my siblings have completed their undergraduation in Bangladesh and I was finally done with school in Saudi Arabia. Of course , I comparitively had a much easier time searching for universities as well as applying for them. The websites were always just a click away, and I never had to wait too long for their replies. In other words, communication technology has taken a huge leap in the past 5 years. I also, got my first mobile, a Nokia Ngage, when I was in the 10th grade, which was again much earlier than my siblings. That was mainly because, as time passed , the distribution of mobiles had improved so much that almost every person, every child had to own a mobile.That trend once again showed the improvement in communication technology.

Looking at my childhood, it is not a surprise as to why I fell in love with the internet, the idea of reaching the outside world just by sitting in your own room and clicking the mouse was just amazing ! When I dont go online for a day or two I feel like I havent read the newspaper for a week or in other words I tend to think that I have fallen behind everyone else in the world!

So,this post , is just my way to thank all the people , who have worked for the development in the communications field because I am sure that millions of people out there have benefitted from it.

Umm so .. thats it for today, the day was the same except for the fact that I was blind for 16 hours! ( broke my glasses). Well thats all , until my next post !

Cheers,

Naim.