Computer Interface
Kal, Aaj aur Kal is the name of a movie released during the
70s. Befitting its name the cast consisted of three generations of the Kapoor
clan viz., Privthviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor — represent
Kal (the past), Aaj (the present) and Kal (the future). In the movie each
generation felt strongly about the genre of culture in which they were born and
brought up and couldn’t comprehend how the others could survive without it or
why the others had no respect for it. Taking a leaf from this theme, I have
pieced together past trends which changed our present and are likely to shape
our future.
Today, life without a cell phone, a laptop, or an Internet
connection seems unthinkable. Technology has infiltrated the daily life in so
many ways that it’s hard to remember entire generations found ways to reach
others, stay up-to-date, and do their jobs without the technology innovations we
take for granted. This write-up is about innovations that may seem standard now,
but whose creation changed the way business is conducted, directly affected
quality of life, broke new ground, and more. The list is not organised in any
particular order, however some of the biggest contributors to the present
technology are listed in the paras below.
The first among the trendsetters is Graphical User Interface
(‘GUI’). The first graphical user interface was invented by Douglas Englebert in
1968. But thanks to companies like Apple, who popularised the same, GUI design
advanced significantly in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Because of these
pioneers, we can take it for granted that we interact with our computer using a
mouse and have easy-to-understand icons and other graphical controls instead of
having to remember a bunch of computer commands.
Of course without the Personal Computer — PC/ laptop
computers, our progress would have been stunted. 1981 was a big year for
computers: IBM launched the 5150 model (which it called a ‘personal computer’)
and the Osborne 1 became the first portable computer. Weighing in at 24 pounds,
it challenges our current notion of laptop. Not to forget that it was MS DOS,
yes, a Microsoft product which opened up new possibilities.
Internet/broadband/WWW is an equal contributor. Our slavery
to Google, our addiction to Twitter. Not to mention our penchant to keep
up-to-date on any given news topic, our ability to send and receive far too many
e-mails. The Internet enabled so many other phenomena that it’s startling to
realise the Internet as we know it only arrived in the ’90s. But it didn’t take
long to change our lives forever.
Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions are also responsible for
turning the fortunes of many. Where would we be without all the Amazons, eBays
and other online stores ? Thanks to the Internet being
opened up to commercial use, the ability for companies to capitalise on
electronic transactions took off. As did our hunger for a more peaceful shopping
experience. Today, ecommerce is a given, we book our tickets for
travel or for movies online. It’s obvious
why those wonder years were called the ‘Roaring 90s’.
Mobile phones, take a look at your tiny little cell phone and
be thankful. The first mobile phones, which Motorola unleashed on the market in
1983, were confined to the car (until a few years later when they became more
mobile) and were the size of a briefcase, in fact my first handset would very
easily measure up to a remote control. I am absolutely speechless when people
say that they would be lost without their mobile phones. Come to think of just a
decade ago, most people survived with fixed telephones (apro MTNL). I still
prefer the old school — don’t call me, I’ll call you. In fact, the thought that
soon I will be forced to carry a Blackberry device is unsettling . . . .
Social networking via Internet. This is one trend that I
haven’t adjusted to as yet. Internet-based social networks really are very new.
SixDegrees.com (1997) is one of the earliest social network site. They say that
it wasn’t until MySpace, which launched in 2003, that social networks began to
appeal to the masses. Now, of course, there’s Facebook, which gives you endless
opportunities to have worlds collide, and Twitter, which empowers you to become
your own paparazzi by dropping life tidbits, wisdom, and your comings and goings
to your anxious followers. If you haven’t done it already do check out
SecondLife — (for some it is a second life . . . . literally).
In the next part I hope to cover some innovations which I think will shape
our future . . . .
