Simplicity in Glitches

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As a kid we used to have radios, the SW/MW kind of gadget and a few years into our childhood we met the first TV set. It was a black and white television set with a selector which could tune into 6 or 8 stations the selector came with an extra ring which was used to fine tune. In addition to that was the off/on and volume knob and all built into one. The radio used to have exactly similar set of control to tune in to a station or control the volume and a knob to switch between short and medium wave and I cannot recollect the existence of FM (frequency modulation) in those days! And the telephone was a solid black piece of equipment and well connected (with wires off course!).
Life was so simple then. Whenever one of those gadget failed transmit we immediately knew the cause. If it was not the power source it was the antenna connection unless the station is having trouble with transmitting the program. In latter case we a sweet voice would invariably come up apologizing for the interruption.
But now life is quite different! We have tens of gadgets in our house and each one of them has hundreds of controls options. Powered by nano technology, literally every household item has a micro processor chip installed and a few programs that run on that (No wonder the IT professionals and programmers are so much in demand). If we are not watching the Television we are watching a DVD or listening to some music or may be on the play station if not surfing the internet. But there is one uncanny similarity between life then and life now. Whenever the gadget stops working I have no doubt about what has happened… whether it is the phone or laptop or the TV or anything else ………. It has HUNG itself! But the good thing is that they are not humans, a simple reboot brings that back to life!!




Comments

  1. ZuzanaNovember 19, 2009 at 3:04 PM

    I often wondered what would happen if time travel was possible and I took my teenage self, lets say when I was 13 and brought myself to present day. I think I would go on overload as when I was 13, I was still living in the world you describe.;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. StickhorsecowgirlsNovember 19, 2009 at 10:48 PM

    I had to laugh out loud! I well remember when the neighbors down the street got color television. How envious I was, even tho the people looked green. Now, my I-Phone is "too much" phone for me! It gives my eight-year-old niece, however, no problem whatsoever! C

    ReplyDelete
  3. UrmiNovember 20, 2009 at 2:22 AM

    Excellent post. While reading your post I was remembering my childhood days when I was studying in school and my father purchased television, Konark and it was the only television in our area. All people gathered in our house to see it and now the things have changed so much that if we tell these things to a child he/she cannot imagine. Nowadays even the children is having mobile and I-pod and so many other gadgets.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kavita SahariaNovember 21, 2009 at 7:41 AM

    Ha haaa...HUNG ITSELF!!!Absolutely right !I very often wonder how fun it would have been if my gadget freak dad was around ...his official tours to Kolkatta(Calcutta then)brought us colorful two-in -ones(radio and the tape recorder),calculators,digital pen(with watch),digital-watches....first microwave in our locality at Delhi(microwave was not available in ope market...palika bazar zindabaad).

    Now when i see my three year old fiddle my cell phone for playing music i remember the days when it was hard to contain our excitement hearing our own recorded voices from a tape recorder and Papa's happy face.

    Great post Suman...have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sujata senguptaNovember 21, 2009 at 7:48 AM

    there should be a sweet voice saying things like"apnar machine zhuilya gece" they hang they get virus afflicted they need regular checks and even when they are in perfect order the remotes are too complicated for a person like me to operate anything more complicated than the on/off and the volume control!

    ReplyDelete
  6. RajeshNovember 24, 2009 at 11:05 AM

    But those were the wonderful days. We were not so much addicted to this add-ons as we are now. Today any of this go missing we feel their absence.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Helen McGinnNovember 25, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    I even remember our first phone; when I think back to that old thing to the handheld wizard mobiles of today, it is not without a wee bit of regret. :O)

    Your drawing made me think of 'hangman', a game we used to play a lot! No computer games, y'see.... ;O)

    ReplyDelete

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