Pen to paper is the best way to put your ideas across. Things may look ugly with the pen on paper with crooked figures and unintelligible writings, spelling mistakes and misalignment. But the though process is often too fast for the finger on keyboard. Putting figures and notations on the right places are often an head ache for the people who make it , for those who print and those who read it. Many still follow the age old writing practices. Though there is not copy and paste there is a look and copy facility. The pen to paper approach is cost effective in many cases and saves a lot of time for those whose fingers aren’t acquainted with the “qwerty”. The only problem it faces is the portability and handling. Pen to paper get the work done better in many situations which does not require elaborate data manipulation and storage. Even speaking cannot match the speed of thought many a time. And why most people have horrible handwriting is because the ideas are pouring out too fast for the pen to run in sync. Definitely you cannot help handling the pen when there is no electricity. Handwriting recognition in touch screen phones are good but their portability ends when the receiver does not have the same kind of technology. In India Rs 1000/- handsets are stilll popular and are often considered an extravaganza. Tablet PCs, PDAs and other funny high tech gadgets work only at a higher end of society.
When some data is to be communicated one should ask these questions.
-Is the data to be communicated to long distances?
-cost effectiveness?
-security?
-reliabily?
A single snail mail in India costs a minimum of Rs 4/- plus you should buy an envelope , go to post office to get the stamp, and drop the letter in the post box. This works well if the distances are within reach. India post has an excellent reach across the country.
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But to send data to many and when also under time constraint Internet technology becomes a saviour. Videos, pictures, audio, documents and all kind of digital data find an easy route to their destination with good security via the e-mail. The time for organising and keeping personal letters safely is greatly reduced. Internet comes at Rs 5/- for 15 minutes if you frequent the same internet cafe and acquaint with the internet shopkeeper.
While its a matter of pride and vanity for some it is a joyful game , an intriguing puzzle for others. Many use it for sensible works. But the problems of hacking, spamming, phishing etc etc still lurks somewhere in there. Secure transactions are best done face to face. But e-mail reamins a fantastic favourite. It has carved a niche for those people who love to be curious and updated about technology.
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