“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic“- Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Technology always appeared to me more as a magic and less as a mere application of science. The reference to the word ‘technology’ brings back sweet memories from my childhood when I received my first video game console, a Nintendo gaming box. I still vividly remember the excitement, adrenaline rush and happiness of the moment when I saw my gaming console for the first time. It seemed nothing short of a magician or a genie that could grant almost unworldly gratification in just push of a button.
A small game cassette used to go inside the box and a new world of excitement used to begin. Mario, Contra, Bomber-Man, Pack-Man were among hundreds of games available in each cassette.
I grew up in a small middle-class residential community located at the west end of New Delhi, the capital of India. My father was a businessman and had a small factory for making light bulbs. I used to work in my dad’s factory during my school breaks. I got exposed to several complex manufacturing machines in the plant which had the best technology of the time though my work area was strictly confined to testing of bulbs (QA), being the safest (and boring) section of the plant.
Later on, my brother joined the workforce and received a pager (text messaging device). Until then, salesmen could not remain in touch with their family and clients but everything changed with pagers. Mobile phones then superseded pagers as a communication device since meaningful conversation could not be successfully accomplished in a mere 240 characters (text message limit of pagers).
I really admire Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, ex-president of India as a technology literate person. Popularly known as the Missile Man, he was instrumental in developing the space programs for India. Born in a poor family, Kalam’s father was a poor fisherman who worked hard to make both ends meet. Kalam used to walk several miles to reach school (he never had the money to take a bus) and even worked as a newspaper delivery man to support his school expenses. Later on, he became one of the most famous presidents of India and was popularly known as People’s president.
I love technology and recently bought an android phone. On my first day of school, I found my class using an android satellite navigation application. I’d love to have more useful applications on my phone.
Technology moves at a fast pace and it is difficult to keep track about many of its aspects. I usually attend seminars, read blogs and listen to eBooks to keep track of the latest happenings in the world of technology.
I love interactive online documentation that can provide useful help based on the correct context. Reading 500 pages of text to discover a five line procedure is overwhelming. Online, context driven and modular help makes life easy!
Filed under: Technical Writing
Good attempt, Gurpeet
)))
But it seems you got inspired from someone/something to start this Autobiographical write-ups.
Frankly speaking, I am an avid user of technology from the start for my work from almost two decades. But at the same time I also admit and believe that its the changes in this advanced technology only which has actually raised our standard of livings from the outside but has made up very poor and poorer from the inside.
You may not agree with me but its the hard truth.
I really feel sad looking at kids today who tend to play cricket, table tennis, lawn tennis, basket ball kind of games on the small screen in their pockets.
And truly speaking I feel even more sad when even the artists such as painters and musicians tend to work on the digital screen instead of their own hands and brushes………
So though our visual life literally has…….. and may become even more easier in the coming times……….our invisible, inner life has started the downslide journey at a great great great speed.
And we all should take some extra care for that….not for ourselves but for our coming generation which is in a very huge grave danger.
Cheers!
Bobby Sing
http://www.bobbytalkscinema.com
HIS BLESSINGS
Hi Bobby,
Thanks for reading my article and for providing your valuable review.
I’m pursuing a Technical Writing course in Canada. For one of the subjects, our professor gave us an assignment to write about our technical autobiography (experience with technology and its impact on our life). I thought I will post my assignments on my blog as well to attract more feedback (and it works, right!).
I completely agree with your comments about technology making us poor from inside. When I was a kid, we used to play chuppan-chupai (hide and seek) every time the power went off, which was almost everyday. Now a days, I rarely see any kids playing on the street. They are more busy with their studies, TV, internet or video games. Alas, no time left for physical activities.
What is “android satellite navigation application”?
It’s a type of GPS application on my android phone. I use it almost everyday to find my way across my huge college campus.