The decade of transformation

After the cheerful festival celebrations we have finally entared into the New Year. It’s not only New Year but also a fresh new decade. I wish healthy and prosperous New Year and New Decade to all my readers. I was randomly discussing with my friend regarding the changes that we all experienced in previous years and decided to put my observations in a blog post. I am sure this will make you feel more nostalgic. So relax and enjoy this time travel.

Keypad to touch screen

Do you remember the keypad style panels used in feature phones, electronic appliances? I used to enjoy them a lot since they had some tack tile feedback. Now this is transformed completely and we interact with our gadgets with responsive touch screens. Smart phones, electronic appliances even floor panel inside elevator is now works through a touch screen. I believe this is one of the biggest transformations in last decade. 

Laptop to tablets

Laptop was one of the prime gadgets during those days. I bought my Sony Vaio with 2 gigs of ram and 128 gigs of HDD. I remember I used to carry that everywhere with pride and attitude (lol). It was an eye catchy machine. Years passed and we look at it as a bulky affair. Now people switched to portable and stunning tablet devices.

SMS to chat

Do you remember that late night SMS from your friend? Oh what a feeling! We all used to send those short messages to everyone. Everything is changed and SMS was killed by chat apps like ‘WhatsApp’, ‘Hike’. With fancy stickers, interactive emojis, group chat and voice messages these apps have become crucial part of our life whereas now SMS is used only to receive OTP’s and balance alerts.

Broadband to heavy mobile data

In last decade most of the Indian homes got equipped with broadband service with limited data plans. Limited means really limited, I had a MTNL plan of 1 gigs which I used to utilize throughout the month. If it is rapidly going then I used to turn off OS updates on my laptop and in case of excessive data left unused then on last day I used to download lot of MP3 songs and movies. Oh! Those were the days. I am sure many of you must have done this in their houses. Now situation is completely different, we have 1.5 gigs of data for the day. It means almost 50 times growth in our consumption.

Voice calling to Video calling

Struggle of getting network coverage for a simple voice call is now an old story. People started using the interactive video calling. Right from showing the scenes from your expensive international holiday to sharing your favorite recipe, video call is a preferred choice.

Voice tag to virtual assistant

I don’t know how many of you used this amazing feature in old Nokia Symbian phones called as ‘Voice Tag’. Once added to any number, you can dial the same just by using your voice. This was an initial form of virtual assistant I feel. Now after so many years   here we are with rich and interactive virtual assistants like Google or Siri which can respond to your queries, dial a number, and set an alarm and so on…

Banking to Digital Banking

Can you recollect your last bank visit? I remember I went to my bank’s branch for opening a fixed deposit. This banking paradigm is transform at a truly amazing pace. Now we can open new account, fixed deposit, recurring deposit, and transfer money to another account, update address by just tapping few menus on web or mobile app. Are you really missing that bank queue? then just go and get your passbook printed from your nearest branch.

Street shopping to online shopping

Street shopping! Oh what a chaotic experience I had here in Mumbai. My mum used to go crazy for this as she could bargain at her best. From the early days of last decade we have been introduced to this massive phenomenon called ‘Shopping malls’. We were enjoying this experience but now one more new easy and interactive option launched. It is called ‘E-commerce’. Story started by ordering books and now we are in the age of buying expensive gadgets online. Grocery, apparels, toys, fashion and grooming accessories everything is online. Forget about this, people even order their bike and car online. Isn’t that too much?

T.V., media to online music and streaming

Last decade was all about movies, sports and fashion specific channels. We even enjoyed the liberty of ‘Conditional Access System’ through set-top boxes and ‘Direct to Home’ services. In last couple of years people started going away from that so called ‘Idiot Box’. Ease and always available approach of online streaming platforms like ‘Amazon Prime’, ‘Netflix’ made them really popular amongst the all age groups. Rich regional and international content is one of the big reasons behind the success of these services. 24x7 availability of your favorite movie or series is the key of this new type of entertainment hub.  Audio described movies and T.V. shows are a big boom for all my visually impaired friends to enjoy this diverse content without any hindrance. We used to store lot of MP3 songs on our mobile devices and used to buy those small memory cards for extra memory. Now everything is subscription based and available 24x7 on demand.

‘Where is this address?’ to Google maps

Are you lost on the road? Is this place new for you? Then just go and ask any shopkeeper, specifically tea seller or Panwala. They are the most useful and correct navigators in new areas. I’m sure all of us have done this before. With the availability of GPS and Google Map service nowadays we first check the address or route on the smart phones and then seek for human help if required.

Taxi to app based cabs

Iconic ‘Black & Yellow’ taxi, ‘Kali Pili’ in local language was the only option apart from crowded public transport. Convincing these taxi guys for a desired route was a nightmare. This picture changed with the introduction of app based cab aggregators like ‘Uber’ and ‘Ola’. On demand availability, Door to door service, comfortable AC cars, choice of payment methods and most of other features were few reasons behind the success of these services.

Will sci-fi movies be the next reality?

These are few of the changes we experienced in last decade but there are lots of other interesting things entered in our life like smart devices, IOT, online food delivery, business and social networks, connected cars and so on. As we all know, next decade will be driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and 5G connectivity. As a result we will see interactive software and hardware, wireless infrastructure, lightning speed for data transfer, drones for delivery and many more interesting technologies. I remember when I started using smart speaker in my house two years ago I felt like a character in a sci-fi movie but the actual movie will start now. A blind individual like me will wear smart glasses while walking on the road independently and can also drive a driverless car using an onboard computer. So fasten your seat belts, adjust your chair and get ready to travel into a highly advanced and interesting new decade of 2020!