Evolution means change from one form to another. Information is the sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message while it is the imparting or exchanging of information or news.My history tells me that the forms of communication used in the olden days were lighting up fire and smoke could rise up, when the villagers saw the smoke, they could know that the elder had something to say. Talking to one another and this meant that they had to select one of the fastest people to run from one part of the village to another and deliver the message personally. Blowing horns or whistling was also used to gather individuals to another for an important message to be passed from the elders.It evolved into telephone booths where people could carry coins and place on the booth before making a call. We use also to have a reverse call meaning you could dial some number say to your parent/friend or guardian on a dedicated line then s/he pays later. Apart from audio communication during these times, there was written communication where people could just write a message in a sheet of paper, place it in an envelope and seal it. Ensuring you have written the postal address of anywhere you want the letter to be delivered. Boys could be seen with big novels trying to write letters to their female counterparts from other schools to appease them with handwritten letters. Tape for audio and video cassettes (tapes) for visual were used for listening to music and watching movies. Other used tape recorders and walkmans.Computers were very few and only the very rich could afford them. Having internet was a miracle and only big companies and organizations had their employees using them. Phones also were few and only the rich could afford them. They were big and could only use one line. They lacked internet capabilities and the people who wanted to use internet had to go to cyber cafés where charges were made per minute/hour. The internet service provider was only one authorised by the government to give the services to the final retailers. People changed to compact disk/s (CD) for audio music and Digital versatile discs (DVD’s) for movies which required one to have a DVD or CD player. In came the ‘dot com’ era. Around the year 2000 and beyond, technology changed for the better, desktop computers were replaced with affordable laptops. Many people also changed from using telephone booths or landlines to using mobile phones and also the size changed, from bigger to smaller gadgets which could be handheld easily and were also lighter in weight. The internet speed was also increased as many internet service providers were given licenses to operate therefore removing monopolies and increasing competition among different players. The mobile handsets apart from being cheaper they had many lines and internet on them, meaning people could send and receive emails and attachments using their phones. More and improved application could also be used on the phone and this includes eBay application which allows individuals to buy and sell their commodities online without travelling and goods being send using DHL and other international carriers. Many people could now work from home online, send job applications and communicate online using social sites like Facebook and Skype and many other sites to people from all over the world.Latest was introduction to tablet (ipad) which means you just buy one, instead of buying a computer (laptop), mobile phone and camera, a tablet contains all that. It’s also portable and easier to carry which changed the way people listen to music. Blue ray was used for music and video.In conclusion as we enjoy the new technology, we should appreciate where we came from.The writer is a technician at Riviera High School
