Today, we no doubt live in a world controlled by much of technology. Some people refer to this period as the best time to be alive, while a few much older folks that I have interacted with are of the opinion that many people today live like robots, which are largely controlled by a number of factors outside their power. In as much as I agree that technology has brought about a lot of positive things to the world, I do not deny the fact that certain negative tendencies have also evolved alongside.
Before the advent of the Internet, which has now made us to have access to tonnes of real time information via various platforms, we used to depend on traditional ways of receiving information. Some of these include the television, radio, letters that are distributed through the post offices, and telephones that we can only access when we are in a place where one is available. However, all that has changed because today, we all carry our phones about on the palm of our hands and we rightly call them “handsets.” In those days, letters usually take weeks and months to arrive at their various destinations because of the processes of the post office sorting and transporting to the receiving post office as well as other logistics related issues. Most of our radio and television stations did not also have phone-in programmes on their schedule back then. If you had any issues with anything published by any newspaper or wanted to contribute an article, you had to write a formal letter to the editor of your preferred newspaper and send it through the post office. Today, all these have changed radically.
Most programmes on radio and television stations today are real time, phone-in programmes, in which contributors call in to express views and contribute to such programmes in real time. Gone are the days, when the radio was referred to as “a talker that does not wait to receive a reply.” These days, the radio receives an instant reply. Same thing occurs with the television stations too, now. A newspaper that does not have an online edition where people can access news in real time is today not considered a serious newspaper outfit. So much for the traditional means of communication, that has all taken a new dimension. The various platforms of email and other social media platforms have now further boosted the availability and access to tons of information.
Real time information is pretty much okay. Some of the — Finish Reading on the Punch
