iSay…

Another gadget becomes history

Once it was a status symbol. I still remember vividly, the excitement of using it for the first time more than 35 years back. I was so thrilled that my grandfather was getting one. By the time it was installed and ready to use, it was about 4 PM. I had to rotate a wheel many times and wait for someone from the post office to say ‘hello’. He then connected me to my uncle. I recognized the voice and looked around the hall to see where he was hiding. But he was somewhere else in the village.

Even when it became a necessary household item, getting one needed many strings to be pulled. In the mid 90s, when I wanted one for my Delhi residence, the waiting period was close to a year. I had to jump the queue with the help of local BJP MLA.

Then came its wireless avatar, which was nothing but an outrageous luxury. My first usage bill was about Rs.12 & Rs.8 per minute of outgoing & incoming calls respectively.

Yes, we have come a long way and it is no longer considered a luxury. Almost everyone has it and we keep it away from us only when we take bath since it is not waterproof.

Let me go back to the good old ‘landline’ phone. A cursory analysis of last 6 months bills indicate how poorly it is getting used. It didn’t make any sense to pay rental for paperweights. So, my beloved ‘landline phone’ was laid to rest with due respects today.

Years back, when the cassette players became history I had to literally give away hundreds of cassettes collected over two decades. Today, in that list of historical items, the poor old fixed phone has joined.

The way things are going, soon fountain pens and wrist watches might join that list. But I will not allow that to happen as long as possible. But one thing I am sure, will join that list, is the ‘CD/DVD’ players. With ‘Flash memory’ becoming cheaper by the day, the ubiquitous ‘pen-drives’ will become the medium to deliver contents before everything becomes a ‘cloud’.

I would give another 10 years for this to become the next item to join that list.

RIP – “Fixed Line Phone”

Arts, Crafts & Aircrafts

LOL News: India is developing 1700 seater aircraft. Union Minister says that the development is in advanced stage.

Don’t get me wrong. I am an Indian & I want to see my country do well in science & technology. Over the years, every time these ministers make such statements, they not only make a joke of themselves but of the whole nation. Exactly a year back they trumpeted $35 tablet to be available in Jan 2011. All tech journals across the world laughed at us or at best skeptical while the Indian media went gaga over that. Now what is the status? The Indian media do not bother since they have much more spicy news to publish. The people do not care since they have a short memory.

Almost all papers have published similar text, which appear to be given to the press by the ministry. Nobody bothered to get the details like:

1. Which department is working on this?
2.  What is their qualification?
3. How many models of aircraft they have already designed and manufactured?
4. Which are the carriers using those aircrafts?

The mighty Boing & Airbus are struggling with their design to perfect A380 & 777. With all their experience their budget & schedule went haywire.

I’ll be more than happy to see India actually producing such technological wonders. After all we have built a super computer & sent a rocket to the moon. We have all the expertise since most of the engineers working in path breaking discoveries across the world are Indians. If they can be brought back to India and given proper directions & leadership, we can challenge any nation.

However, I still have one fundamental question. “Does it make any business sense to build a 1700 seater aircraft?” Do they know what kind of infrastructure needed at ground level to handle that many passengers? A380 itself is giving enough headaches to the airport managers across the world.

Who sanctioned such a crazy project? Does our Kapil Sibal, minister for science & technology, who famously promised a $35 tablet last year, aware of this? Oh yes, he is busy drafting Lokpal bill!