20080901

Face IT

About a week ago I mentioned I completed 10 years here in the US. Ironic that very same day last week my first cousin and his close friend landed here in New Jersey to pursue their masters degree.

Have been busy with them and helping them to settle and understand this new environment. Will catch up with blogs in few days.

Being with them for the past few days I realized some very interesting things that have changed or evolved drastically in the last 10 years. Also at the same time there are somethings that have not changed at all.

Here are few of them -

- The exchange rate - it was 44.00 Rs. for a Dollar when I came here and again this week it is in the same range.

- The excitement, apprehension and anticipation of the student is still the same.

- Bill Gates has been so undecided on what we view from his Window - saw him change from Windows 98 to Windows ME to Windows 2000 to Windows XP and then now to Windows Vista

- Computers were in the 486 version with 256 MB Ram and 14-15" CRT monitors and cost around $4000.00 and now 14-15" LCD laptops with around 2-4 GB ram cost anything between $500-$1000. So computer's "internals" became "bigger" but in reality became smaller and the price became 1/10th.

- Cell phones - they were like brick bats then - heavy and cumbersome. Now the digitally smart phones are the "in-thing". Here too US has moved progressed from TDMA to CDMA to GPRS to GSM technology. Really never bothered to know what they are as long as I could make a simple call. And also met many people struggling with these new phones complaing that it does not work properly - my only question to them is - it is called "SMART PHONE" isn't it? - Are you really that SMART to own one?

- Internet has gone from Dial Up to Wired Cable - DSL - and now the latest Fibre Optic. And also the wireless has progressed from A to B to G to N. It has become faster and better but is also enslaving us everyday.

- Netscape was the browser to be with if you wanted to be cool and not use IE - IE is still around but now you use FireFOX to be cool.

- Prices of everything - fuel - basics like milk - vegetables etc etc is almost up by 10 times but the rents for apartment and fees to colleges havent increased that much.

- Music was bundled in Audio Cassestes on their way out then to Compact Discs and now its all about MP3 on the lill MP3 Player. Same with the movies - moved from VHS to DVDs and also DIVX formats.

These are just some of the observations that I made....and the last but the best one is one of the biggest changes - the way we communicate back home.

Orkut, Facebook, Cellphones, VOIP, Yahoo Chat, Gtalk, Messenger, ICQ, SMS so on and so forth.....there are so many tools that now both the parents/friends back home and students here are living this "new life" simultaneously with constant back and forth of information. Dont know if these two will ever feel that they are really away away from home.

I sometimes wonder how someone who came 10 years before me - felt and realized these differences...if he thought about it when I came.

And lastly here is an interesting video of Facebook in Reality:

59 comments:

--xh-- said...

10 years is a long time wrt technology. 10 years back - I was doing my Bachelors, and I was among the first guys to get a e-mail id in my college - that time, it was a big thing, and people used to gape with admiration when you tell them about Internet,browsing a d e-mail.
now even my 7 yr old niece is well versed in web than me. :P

Anonymous said...

Alot has changed! And the social networks have enslaved us!

I am glad that you sitc back and actually observe everything, I find myself doing that quite often.

And yeah about the Zebra thing.. HAHAH NOT GONNA HAPPEN! lol I will come out Victorious and they will let me Take a cruise on what I want.. I HOPE unless they animal has a thing for anyone other than blondes... i think I am going to dye my hair and see if I will have less moments!

That Video right there is why MY pics are NOT online at all.. I have issues when it comes to showing pics! hahahaha

I am around for a few more days.. lets see what I can get into before I leave!!

Shalom & Ahava!!

(Peace & Love)

Aarti said...

Wow, this sounds similar to what my uncle was talking about...
He moved to the USA in 1981, and abt a mth ago my cousin[his nephew] went there to pursue his undergrad... My uncle was talking of the cost, exchange rate, lifestyle, etc.. along the same lines as you've mentioned!

but when he went, the 1$=10rs :D

interesting video...reality chk!!! :)

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

10 saal mein duniya sach much kafi badal gyi hai...

technology kafi frndly ho gayi hai...

Mysterious Mia said...

oke first of all when i read 'FACE IT' i had something totally different in my head...

so 10 yrs is a long long time inne....10 years ago to be cool one chated on ICQ n toay its Gtalk

10 years ago the web was a safer place n now u never know

btw the video was like too good.

aMus said...

interesting video...and true too..
teh social network sites have really swamped us...

good post...

Cess said...

It was nice to see the change, some of them that I forgot, I did remember 10 years ago, my parents had a minitel (terminal linking phone users to a database) with a black screen and white letter, we were using it to check if i passed my exam at school, god, it looks so old now ;) I m glad we have all the social networking tool, so we can have friends all over the world.
The video is hilarious!

gypsy said...

hmmm, a decade hn!


Well, nothing is more permanent then change...

Good take, my mother reminds me of the 'changing times' every time the government pulls up d price of milk :P

Sighhhh!

Anonymous said...

hmmm.... nothing stays forever :)

I came here to Mysore in 2006.. and in the last 2 years so many things have changed...

u r talking abt 10 yrs :O

:)

Sameera Ansari said...

Indeed,there has been a sea change in the past decade in terms of lifestyle and technology.

Internet was a novelty for me and my schoolmates back then :P

Apartment prices have not gone up that much?That's really something.Here in Dubai,they have risen so drastically since past five years.

Hope the exchange rate goes down as India's economy improves.But guess that is too much to expect with elections around the corner.Sigh!

broca's area said...

orkut has really helped us to connect with our old friends...but it has also decreased the personal social attraction

Compassion Unlimitted said...

The previous 10 years years used to move much slower than the 10 years of now..I always keep wondering how this happens !

TC
CU

Rho Tau GWIS said...

Nice recap of the past decade.
It seems so surreal now that its on my computer screen!

Hilarious video!!

Aarti said...

come over to check out something.... :d

Solitaire said...

Nice points. I can identify with many of them.

However, in having dealt with a newbie every single year since I got here, I have realized that the innocence that students had ten years ago is missing. Maybe its good. Now students are much more independent, quick, and street-smart than the newbies were ten years ago.

And fuel prices....don't even talk about them! I remember filling gas up for 99 cents a gallon!

When one is not smart, they need a SMART phone to do their work for them!

Can't see the video. Will do so back home.

KP said...

1oyrs...its been longtime:). I remembered most of this:). 10 yrs from now, it`ll be totaly different. prices will be skyhigh from present.

rainboy said...

thanx to technology and Mr.gates they have changed the way we communicate.

10 years ago i bought my first computer too :)

Neetal said...

yeah... so true... i can't believe its my 8th year... hai ram! time flies...

Urv said...

Don't talk about IE man.. Its almost 2 am and I am still in office coz of the same IE..

Pavi!!!! said...

Tht was a nice recap! so much has changed rite...
n hey i don't use firefox...im not a cool person kya?!?

n woah..talk abt social netowrks...how tru the video is!

ceedy said...

@xh

Yes I agree its a long time wrt to technolgy specially post 2000.

and so agree the kids can teach us a thing or two nowadays

ceedy said...

@ne

well I agree with what you say - not being exposed online


keep the faith...hope all is well

ceedy said...

@ aaarti
wow $1 : 10 rs.....that sounds like ages ago...

yeah i guess every generation has something to share

ceedy said...

@the day dreamer

haan
friendly ho gayi hai
par hum logon ke beech tanav aa raha hai

ppl are expecting too much too fast
and it is stressful specially at work

ceedy said...

@princess mia

ok....hope this is not the same FACE IT....

well it has changed a lot....remember the VSNL dial up days...

kewl glad you liked the video....

ceedy said...

@suma

thank you...hope you are not addicted

ceedy said...

@cess

yes...when you look at tools and gadjets even from 10 yrs back they look cumbersome....

yeah the social networks have their own pros and cons

and glad you liked the video

ceedy said...

@d sinner

hahahah
a true housewife scale of changing times....milk and onion prices :P

well change is good but this rapid change is not allowing us to enjoy anything and actully making us paranoid if we fail to change for some time...isnt it?

ceedy said...

@veens

even in the past few months you life has compleltly changed isnt it????

so waht are you talking about 2 years :)

ceedy said...

@sameera

yeah things have changed a lot....and has its pros and cons

apt prices here are stable cause the housing market is bust....and the income is stagnated as on now

dubai is in a sea of change so its going to have a lot of high....and then it will stabilize too after a point...it has to thats how economics work

well dunno how the exchange rate is going to fluctuate....yes the elections are around the corner

ceedy said...

@brocasarea

yeah social network has its pros and cons

ceedy said...

@compassion unlimited

yes sire.....the way these last 10 yrs have been specially post 2000 it is like a blink of an eye

before we can understand fathom the change its already old and something new is on its way

ceedy said...

@carolinagal

yeah...when you look at it in a wholistic way it surely does look like WTF just happened.....

10 yrs gone in a blink....

glad you enjoyed the video

ceedy said...

@aarti

checked it....thank you..:)

ceedy said...

@solitaire

thanks - yes I guess you have been here long enuf to know these changes

dont you think the innocence is missing because they have access to all the data first hand....

apprehension of what to expect in many situations that we had probably does not exist now since there is so much exodus of people to and fro...


i agree...when one is not smart they need a smart phone....but what about those people who cant even figure out the smart phone functions???? thats the people I am talking about

check the video if you can its hilarious....

ceedy said...

@kp

hahhaha
dude 10 yrs from now....even a glass of beer will be 10 bucks :(

ceedy said...

@v

mr. gates has helped and enslaved us....

its a two edged sword this technological revolution

ceedy said...

@neeku

hahaha....yeah it does...time is going faster than we can realize

ceedy said...

@urv

you are in a mess cause of IE I guess

ceedy said...

@pavi!!!!!

thanks....yeah...everything has changed - even the way we emote.....

dont worry I am not cool too..even I dont use firefox :)

glad you liked the video

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

haan uss din iwas reading an article..people are saving bucks by utilizing human labour to savour technology :O

aneri_masi said...

College fees are the same? Good for them! Interesting points you have made here. Must be quite a trip down memory lane for you!

Hiren said...

this ones a good trip down memory lane ... got me thinking of my first computer and how much I shelled out for that config :) .... the hours and hours i spent at cyber cafe for faster speeds .... the yelling at home i used to get when the monthly phone bill would come which would be exorbitant due to my internet usage on dialup networks (and i used to be like college nu kaam karvu pade ;)) ... the time when i had started using gtalk and orkut (during its very early days) and had almost became a brand ambassador for it .. pursuing all of my friends to start with it :) .... the time when calling up friends/relatives in US/UK was damn expensive and real big deal ... remember one had to place TRUNK calls :) ... the time when i used to regularly visit a nearby video library for the VHS cassettes for new movies ....

damn all this just feels like yesterday :) time doesn't fly it just disappears instantly ...

p.s. the video is hilarious

♥ÐÅyÐяєÅмє®♥ said...

Bhai mauka miley toh apna award collect kar liyo mere blog se :P

Ankur said...

nahi.. when u compare the prices look at the PPP and also the inflation which is on, so though now also the exchange rate is same but it has deflated more in India!!!

and wait when u have windows sasta after all this!! :P

i still like big cell phones!! :D

humare yahan abhi bhi phone se adsl chalta hai...

nahi... now u use Google Chrome as browser from today and its really cool!! :P

and 10 yrs back.. i wasnt there, otherwise u wudnt have regret few things!! :P
hehe

but i m here now!! ;)
to make u regret more! !:D :D
hehhe

Cheers!!

Mysterious Mia said...

oh yeah those vsnl days....i wud keep disconecting form the inetnert...

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

interesting observations there ceedy :)

ceedy said...

@the daydreamer

kaha par? Online hai to link bhej woh artical ka...

and thanks for the award...will display it in next few days...

ceedy said...

@aneri_masi

yes...it felt as if I came here....

so did you find out when you came here...look at your passpost stamp

ceedy said...

@hiren

yes...absolutly remeber all those salient features....

call par ek sabse bada change...when I came here calling india was like 72c per min incl taxes and we used to geta common bill as there were no cell phones and we had to sit and sort it....

now it is down to almost as cheap as 7c and with ppl abusing VOIP it next to nothing now :(

also remeber cablewala and monopoly...and no choice....damn....

yes they say samay ke saath chalo - yaar main thak gaya hoon

ceedy said...

@ankur

agree - but to a new student PPP and deflation does not matter...all he sees is kanda 200 rs ka liya aur 250 rs ka dudh piya....got it....

and yes you like big things cause you are a big dude :) I like small not seen things...thats y even today I dont have an Ipod...its cumbersome to carry so many things...

and yes i really regeret the moment I fought with you at that story....woh din aur aaj ka din...

ceedy said...

@princess mia

yeah....that dial up was fun....had to disconnect cause ghar pe kisi ko phone karna hai....

ceedy said...

@gunj

thanks

WritingsForLife said...

very interesting observations :-)
Some things never change :-)

ceedy said...

@raaji

thanks

Anonymous said...

that was a nice trip down back memory lane... i had a similar experience recently.. i went to arunachal pradesh..i remebr seening that place when my dad was posted there and i came back from hols..its so changed now..there was this school..not mine..i was in boarding..this was till 6th standard..now it has its own playground and is upto 12th grade...no longer it is the only school in the disctrict also...they have come up like mushrooms...

occasinal tribal man is still there with a huge nose ring..but he is wearing a reebok tracksuit instead of just a wooden penis cover..really.. !...

too much change....

Deepali said...

:) 10 years is a long time and I am sure if you think a little bit more you will find much more that has changed and also that hasn't.

I bet if someone was looking at things from 10 years back up to the day you got there, they would say something similar like 'some things change and some things don't' :)

ceedy said...

@the paratrooper

wow...thats a kewl change...hope the tribal guy is also wearing a condom :)

thanks for sharing

ceedy said...

@deepali

Precisely..thats how I ended the post...wish someone who came 10 years before me shared his experiences...