From the Diaspora…TECHNOLOGY, THE THINGS WE TAKE FOR GRANTED

Jun 21, 2015 News

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By Ralph Seeram
I am at the cosmetic counter in the Mall; the text came on my phone, “pink” so I told the clerk “pink”.
“Which pink”? And she proceeded to show me the various shades of pink, so I took a picture and texted it to her, the text came back identifying the correct shade.
So in less than a minute a transaction was concluded between someone some 3000 miles away and me. I am in Florida the other person in Guyana. There was a time when that would have been a six-week transaction. I would have to cut out a catalogue page, mail it to Guyana, and then they would mail it back.
Those under 25 would have no idea what I am talking about. Now today that transaction is a very normal thing, nothing significant about it, especially for the young, very inconsequential, but it caused me to reflect how technology has progressed, how far it has taken over or became part of our existence.
How many people can honestly say today they can do without a cell phone or the Internet? How many of us can go without Facebook for a day?
There are some simple things in technology that help with our instant gratification. From sex to shopping, we have become a slave to the technology.
Back in the late 80’s I was a network technician working on Wall Street in New York. I worked on the floors of all the Exchanges, the New York Stock exchanges and other Commodity Exchanges in New York and Chicago doing network.
So I was dealing in “cutting edge” technology then. Traders “computers” were running at 2400K bits, we connected states with modems running at 9600k bits to 39000K. What I am talking is the speed of the data, which by today’s standards would make you go insane.
Today in your little cell phone your speed and storage is in MEGABYTES and GIGABYTES, and we still think that is slow. We have to get a 4G LTE network, not sure if Guyana has a 4G Network. But you get the idea; today my phone can do what a computer does, and has storage of 128Gigs.
Back in the late 80’s I had my first desk top PC computer. It was an IBM computer, cutting edge in its day; it could read and write, used the good old floppy disk. “Anybody remembers those?” And had a hard drive storage capacity of 30MB. To put it in perspective this article will probably have 30MG so you can imagine the nightmare to store data back then in PC.
The CRT screen and hard drive weighted about 70 pounds, I am not joking, and cost US$5000 then, oh I did not buy it, could not afford it, it was company owned. I am writing this article on a laptop that weighs about four pounds and cost a few hundred dollars
Today your little laptop has hard drives in GIGA and TERA bytes; you download your pics in seconds, and it’s still slow for us.
Speaking about the weight of my laptop, back in the day I was in a Network class, conducted by AT&T then and still leader in Network Communications. The instructor was speaking about portable computers (laptops today). Back then Compaq had what they called a portable computer. (My instructor said all they did was put a handle on it and called it portable.)
The computer weighed 40 pounds with no hard drive, only two floppy disk drives. I know, I had one; my kids did their homework on it, (again company owned).
Today, I can be in my bed ordering items, delivered to my door, no need to go to the store, and can order practically anything including a car.
In the “old days” if you were looking for a date or romance you look up the classified in the newspapers; today many a romance starts on the Internet, many a marriage started from the Internet, many a divorce happened because of the Internet (if you call sex on the Internet cheating, but that’s a subject for another day)
Speaking about sex on the Internet, a billion-dollar industry today, but on an individual level, technology has created a new avenue for sex. Virtual sex is an everyday occurrence, it’s convenience, right in the palm of your hand and fingers, literally and figuratively. I am talking about your smart phone.
It’s not just ordinary folks involved in sending those nude pictures on the Internet, but even Hollywood movie stars find it fun, except when it gets exposed to the public.
Of course every new set of technology brings its disadvantages also. Criminals also update their skills to match the technology, whether it’s child porn or stealing your money. They are also up to date.
About six months ago I went to use my credit card, only to be told my Card was maxed out. Someone charged nearly US$5000 on my card. Somewhere along the line someone stole my ID and card; fortunately my credit card company cleared the charges.
Despite that I embrace this new technology, I prefer my four-pound laptop to the 40-pound monstrosity, and a 10 second text to a four -week reply. I love the idea of calling friends in Guyana on my phone (free of course, love Messenger, Skype, Facetime, Whatsapp, etc)
I like it that friends can call me from the jungles of Guyana and update me on events. I can keep a pulse on Guyana, political and otherwise from my bed here in Florida. I am actually in bed writing this article. In a few seconds it will be on the Editor’s computer.
As a reporter in Berbice back in the day, I had to read the stuff over the phone (if I could get a trunk line) and someone had to copy it at the other end.
For the young if you don’t know what a “trunk” line is, ask your grandparents, then you will appreciate what we take for granted today.
Ralph Seeram can be reach at email; [email protected] and Facebook.

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