living in the age that we are in, means of communication are probably the biggest change we have seen. radio, tv, internet, i-gadgets, blackberry and even electronic books. in my personal life, too i communicate more on the internet than in person. blogging, skyping, chatting, emailing, researching and then the various means of staying connected - facebooking, watching online tv shows and movies, picasa which is safekeeping memories - travelling, my niece's various growing up expressions.
its good in many ways. my life is being recorded online. and this data is not going to be erased. every event in my life is captured in various tags all over facebook. in the emails i send out everyday. in the conversations i have with my mom. so she notices how i look like her when i don't tie up my hair. or when i can see dad hugging my niece and pampering her just like i have seen him do that to us in our childhood photographs. in the pseudo-intellectual arguments i have with my brother about growing up, about competing, about learning, about girlfriends and boyfriends. and when i criticize my sister's girlish behaviour, even though now she is a mother of a baby girl. or when i am clinical about my boyfriend's confusions. when i keep in touch with my friends who are falling in love, getting married, breaking up, raising children - the whole cycle of life. keeping in touch with whats going on in the world. pictures, articles, news, different countries, all together. on one screen. my housemate has a kindle. so reading books before going to sleep, or preparing case interview preparation guides, its like a little prayer book he always keeps with him. i am also waiting for the next improvised i-pad or its cousin which is less cumbersome and not as expensive.
and then its fast becoming a necessity - as i realised on Friday when i forgot my blackberry at home, 3 hours without access to email made me miss 3 appointments and delayed the progress on 2 assignments. the speed with which i can respond to an email and how long it can go to maintain a working relationship or impress a client. i put everything down as an appointment or a to-do item on my calendar which beeps to remind me where i have to be and when, with sufficient buffer. so much so that first thing i do in the morning when i wakeup is check my phone. first thing i think of when i want to express my thoughts is to put it as a status message. even though i am now struggling with my loyalty to facebook in light of what kind of person Mark Zuckerberg is. but online social network is still an integral part of my life to stay connected.
my family is increasingly getting tech-savvy too. my parents have email, facebook, skype and picasa accounts. and my niece recognizes me on skype more than in a picture. wonder how it will be in the future. for started probably i will have to skype with here first even when i meet her in person. :) i am smiling :)
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