Did technology ever herald such a paradigm shift in lifestyle earlier as it has done during my lifetime? Technology has rapidly expanded the frontiers of human development since my birth in 1959. My own evolution is linked to the chronology of humongous strides in the fields of electronics, automobiles, telecommunications, and most significantly, in the realm of Information & Communication Technology (ICT).
New inventions and innovations have catalysed radical improvements in lifestyle during the six decades of my life so far. In my early childhood, I witnessed the transition from firewood oven to cooking gas as LPG cylinder made a debut in our kitchen. The progressive entry of refrigerator, geyser, landline telephone, washing machine, desert cooler, black and white television, and two-wheeler in our household elevated our lifestyle in the two decades of 1960s and 1970s. Arrival of every new technology product in a middle-class family was an event which was concomitantly a milestone in India’s growth story.
Colour TV made a big splash in 1984 coinciding with Asiad. Other devices prevalent for home entertainment were VCRs and cassette players. There was mushrooming of PCOs for making STD calls during the decade of 1980s. I added many a feather to my cap during the decade of 1990s. I travelled by air in 1992, operated a personal computer in my office in 1993, bought a car in 1996 — all for the first time in my life.
The pace of technological innovations accelerated at the turn of the century. I have been a witness to the emergence and evolution of personal computers, mobile phones, and Internet. Lagging a bit, I acquired a mobile handset in 2001 and a personal computer in 2004. Belatedly, I bought my first smartphone with 8 GB memory in 2014 and later upgraded to Apple’s iPhone with 128 GB memory.
The advent of social media, riding on Internet speed, took the world by storm in the first decade of 21st century. The dominant players in the social media space are X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. From children to the grown-ups, everyone is hooked on to social media. Depicting the downside, a Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, explores the dangerous human impact of social networking.
Information technology has rejigged the ways of life. Google is the most powerful search engine to which we can dictate our questions to and get immediate answers. There are voice-enabled virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa. We communicate instantly through messaging apps and emails. Video calling for personal and official purposes has become commonplace. OTT platforms have metamorphosed home entertainment. Digital payments are another manifestation of technological advancements. Most of the payments and fund transfers can be done instantly through various fintech apps. Artificial Intelligence is the new game-changer. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is already creating waves and buzz. The technological advancements are moving too fast for me to keep pace with.
chander59@icloud.com
