A Walk with Technology, Kalai Selvi Arivalagan [learn to read books .TXT] 📗

If I am asked to type a document using a typewriter, will I be ready to do so? A million dollar question! My fingers may ache and my brain may find it tedious to do the mental calculation to make the final output a neat one.

Two decades ago, type writers ruled the day and the content published adhered to limited margins and space available in the paper. The typists used carbon sheets to take copies of the original documents. A carbon sheet in between the sheets of paper did the job.

I remember the days when students struggled with charts. Whenever the class teacher wanted some charts to fill the space on the classroom wall, she asked the students to come with charts filled with drawings and writings on the assigned topic. The students have to place the chart on the floor and draw the margins with the help of their friends or parents.

At college, after charts, came the OHP sheets. The thin transparent sheets with written text, tables or drawings were shown before a projector and the images were projected on the wall. Writing on the OHP sheets required extra money to buy blank OHP sheets and marker pens to write.

The students required sharp observation skills to write on the charts or on the OHP sheets as they must convey the most important information using short sentences. Writing within the allocated space required practice. I remember writing down diligently on OHP sheets for my B.Ed. project presentation.

Copy generating machines used stencils to make more copies. The questions were typed on the stencil sheets and many copies were generated using the stencil rolling drum. I remember typing on the stencil sheets and rolling them on the drummer to make copies. Sometimes the content was hand written on stencil sheets and copies were taken by running the stencil roller.

After Xerox machines came into use, making copies became an easy job. There was no tedious job of applying ink and running the stencil roller. The Xerox machines helped to take more number of copies within a short time and there was no clumsy maintenance of hand operated machines. As Xerox machines are operated with the single touch of a button, it made the work easier.

Initially most of the computers used WordStar to type documents, save and print as many copies as required. Less time was spent in generating copies. Single/double page copies can be taken using the dot matrix printers.

The ribbons in the dot matrix printers need to be refilled at least once in three months. Depending upon the usage, the ribbons were refilled with ink. Then the printers with laser and ink cartridges came into use.

The laser printers helped to get neat, presentable copies but they were costly. The printers with ink cartridges came in handy but preserving them from getting dried was another problem. I remember storing the ink cartridges in the shelves of the refrigerator and using them whenever needed.

For a poster presentation, there was no need to write charts. The content was typed and the documents were checked using the preview option in the computer. Running through the preview helped to view the content and copies were taken for circulation. The presentation was printed on OHP sheets and they were projected on the screen using the projector.

WordPerfect followed WordStar to generate, store and retrieve documents whenever needed. Windows brought in the technology revolution. With the introduction of Power Point presentation, the poster presentation became easy.

Every slide is captured on a small glass slide and the slides were run using the slide projector. Days before the conference, the presentation was prepared and copied in a floppy disk.

The floppy disk was given at the studio for conversion and it was to be given at least ten days before. Due to time constraint, the slides were prepared at the last moment and the slides were given at the studio for conversion at the last minute.

The person at the studio sometimes charged double to get it done within a short time. The slides will then be run using the slide projector.

The introduction of Overhead projectors made things easy. The Power Point presentation was copied on the floppy or CD and projected on the screen using the Overhead projector. At present, the power point presentation from the lap top computer is directly projected on the screen using the Overhead projector.

The present days are smarter with the digitized content at all levels. Tons of digitized content are available at the Internet to help your children learn more at their own pace and achieve the best in their academic studies.

Today’s children are mobile savvy. They text messages or post their updates in the social networking sites to show their familiarity with the latest technology.

Education related content are browsed now in android mobiles. The handy mobiles helped students to revise lessons even during traveling in the bus, before their exams. They need not carry heavy books or notes.

The latest attraction is the tablet PC. Tablet PCs are handy. With the tablet PC at hand, the digitized content on various curriculum standards can be accessed with ease.

Our ancestors wrote on palm leaves or leather or clothes or on stones. They draw pictures to start with and then they wrote in script.

Initially it took days for them to get ready with their manuscripts either in poetry or prose. It took months or years to get a book ready. If more copies are needed, more people worked diligently to make them. Invention of printing machines made publishing easy.

Digitized content on the Internet has wider scope of audience and authors can get readers from nook and corner of the world. Technology has made all these things possible. My illustrious walk with technology has sharpened my brain and inspired me to write more and get published across the world. Digitized books made publishing easy.  Internet portals provide free platforms to share writings free with every one.  Unless you want to get your books printed in hard copies, your books can be made available as e-books which cost less than printed books.

 Technology has taken the huge stride that has invaded into our personal lives also.

 At present, if you are not online, you are not alive in the world of technology. Information technology has successfully connected every one in the world from one hemisphere to another hemisphere.

Publication Date: 07-16-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Knowledge gained by using technology