"They'll carry digital devices containing their personal and business information..."

My First Ever Seminar!| PG Days 

19th August 2000 | Memories 🥰

Those were the days, when the rise of the machines was clarioned atop all of academia with the tagline, ‘Embrace change’ – or ‘you’re missing something’!

So it was, that I had resolved to go with the flow - brace up in high gear and embrace this change – by resolving to get myself clocked into a good Computer Academy to know first-hand the basics of these ‘sisterly-concerns of the IBM types’ in all their glory and their aura!

PACE was our immediate first resort, as it was located in a very convenient location, adjacent to College.

However, a kind-hearted Computer Science Professor [Dr. Jose], after meeting up with Dad, advised me against shelling out money by the thousands to Computer Academies, as back then, there weren’t good instructors on their rolls!

So PACE was thus dropped off my itinerary for the upcoming months, and Dr. Jose really proved a valuable instructor for me in every way!

Coming now to the most important part of the day’s diary entry - 

As per the sagely advice of our Professors, a few of us – friends – we had decided to attend a Seminar for the first time ever in our lives!

The Seminar was enlightening in many ways! We were given a lot of fresh inputs on the newy world of Computers – of the ensuing Internet Age, and the technocentric world of the near future!

I’m quite reminded of the highly prophetic and oracular sensation of sorts from Bill Gates, titled, Business @ the Speed of Thought that was published in 1999, where he puts forth a proposition that was really-really quite mind-blowing by the standards of 20 years ago!

Here goes Gates -

In the digital age, “connectivity” takes on a broader meaning than simply putting two or more people in touch. The Internet creates a new universal space for information sharing, collaboration, and commerce.

It provides a new medium that takes the immediacy and spontaneity of technologies such as the TV and the phone and combines them with the depth and breadth inherent in paper communications. In addition, the ability to find information and match people with common interests is completely new.

These emerging hardware, software, and communications standards will reshape business and consumer behavior.

Within a decade most people will regularly use PCs at work and at home, they’ll use e-mail routinely, they'll be connected to the Internet, they'll carry digital devices containing their personal and business information.

New consumer devices will emerge that handle almost every kind of data—text, numbers, voice, photos, videos - in digital form. I use the phrases “Web workstyle“ and “Web lifestyle“ to emphasize the impact of employees and consumers taking advantage of these digital connections.

How trueyyy has proved Gates! Ain’t he?

Coming back to 19th August 2000,

After the Seminar, we were offered some good snacks as well!

On this particular day, I had created a new email id for myself on the Email sensation of the times - Yahoo!

Google and their Gmail counterparts, were literally quite unheard of, back then, you see!

To conclude, then, 

Gates – through his Business @ the Speed of Thought - has opened up a lovely ‘window’ to a beautiful pathway that lies ahead for all of humanity! 

Much akin to the valuable, enlightening Seminar that gave us such valuable, refreshing insights and productive inputs on the latest in academia transforming our thoughts and refining our sensibilities for the better! ❤️