Kalai Selvi Arivalagan

Inspirational Others

4.2  

Kalai Selvi Arivalagan

Inspirational Others

Typewriters And Computers

Typewriters And Computers

5 mins
288


If I am asked to type a document using a typewriter, will I be ready to do so? A million-dollar question! My fingers may ache, and my brain may find it tedious to do the mental calculation to make the final output a neat one.

Two decades ago, typewriters ruled the day and the content published adhered to limited margins and space available in the paper. The typists used carbon sheets to make copies of the original documents. A carbon sheet in between the sheets of paper did the job.

I remember the days when students struggled with charts. Whenever the class teacher wanted some charts to fill the space on the classroom wall, she asked the students to come with charts filled with drawings and writings on the assigned topic. The students have to place the chart on the floor and draw the margins with the help of their friends or parents.

At college, after charts, came the OHP sheets. The thin transparent sheets with written text, tables or drawings were shown before a projector and the images were projected on the wall. Writing on the OHP sheets required extra money to buy blank OHP sheets and marker pens to write.

The students required sharp observation skills to write on the charts or on the OHP sheets as they must convey the most important information using short sentences. Writing within the allocated space required practice. I remember writing down diligently on OHP sheets for my B.Ed. project presentation.

Copy generating machines used stencils to make more copies. The questions were typed on the stencil sheets and many copies were generated using the stencil rolling drum. I remember typing on the stencil sheets and rolling them on the drummer to make copies. Sometimes the content was handwritten on stencil sheets and copies were taken by running the stencil roller.

After Xerox machines came into use, making copies became an easy job. There was no tedious job of applying ink and running the stencil roller. The Xerox machines helped to take more copies within a short time and there was no clumsy maintenance of hand-operated machines. As Xerox machines are operated with the single touch of a button, it made the work easier.

Initially, most computers used WordStar to type documents and save and print as many copies as required. Less time was spent on generating copies. Single/double page copies can be taken using the dot matrix printers.

The ribbons in the dot matrix printers need to be refilled at least once in three months. Depending upon the usage, the ribbons were refilled with ink. Then the printers with laser and ink cartridges came into use.

The laser printers helped to get neat, presentable copies but they were costly. The printers with ink cartridges came in handy but preserving them from getting dried was another problem. I remember storing the ink cartridges on the shelves of the refrigerator and using them whenever needed.

For a poster presentation, there was no need to write charts. The content was typed, and the documents were checked using the preview option on the computer. Running through the preview helped to view the content and copies were taken for circulation. The presentation was printed on OHP sheets, and they were projected on the screen using the projector.

WordPerfect followed WordStar to generate, store and retrieve documents whenever needed. Windows brought in the technology revolution. With the introduction of PowerPoint presentation, the poster presentation became easy.

Every slide is captured on a small glass slide and the slides were run using the slide projector. Days before the conference, the presentation was prepared and copied on a floppy disk.

The floppy disk was given at the studio for conversion, and it was to be given at least ten days before. Due to time constraints, the slides were prepared at the last moment and the slides were given at the studio for conversion at the last minute.

The person at the studio sometimes charged double to get it done within a short time. The slides will then be run using the slide projector.

The introduction of Overhead projectors made things easy. The PowerPoint presentation was copied on the floppy or CD and projected on the screen using the Overhead projector. At present, the PowerPoint presentation from the laptop computer is directly projected on the screen using the Overhead projector.

The present days are smarter with digitized content at all levels. Tons of digitized content is available on the Internet to help your children learn more at their own pace and achieve the best in their academic studies.

Today's children are mobile savvy. The text messages or post their updates on social networking sites to show their familiarity with the latest technology.

Education-related content is browsed now on android mobiles. The handy mobiles helped students to revise lessons even during travelling on the bus before their exams. They need not carry heavy books or notes.

The latest attraction is the tablet PC. Tablet PCs are handy. With the tablet PC at hand, the digitized content on various curriculum standards can be accessed with ease.

Our ancestors wrote on palm leaves or leather or clothes or on stones. They draw pictures to start with and then they wrote in the script.

Initially, it took days for them to get ready with their manuscripts either in poetry or prose. It took months or years to get a book ready. If more copies are needed, more people worked diligently to make them. The invention of printing machines made publishing easy.

Digitized content on the Internet has a wider scope of audience and authors can get readers from nook and corner of the world. Technology has made all these things possible. My illustrious walk with technology has sharpened my brain and inspired me to write more and get published across the world. Digitized books made publishing easy. Internet portals provide free platforms to share writings free with everyone. Unless you want to get your books printed in hard copies, your books can be made available as e-books which cost less than printed books.

Technology has taken a huge stride that has invaded our personal lives also. At present, if you are not online, you are not alive in the world of technology. Information technology has successfully connected everyone in the world from one hemisphere to another hemisphere.


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