reading week 3

I don’t know much about how telephone, television and computer developed. I’m just using them as if I used to have them even before my birth.

Yes, I think it is true people tend to forget what the technologies were like 5 years ago and 10 years ago. When the author Frances Cairncross (right?) was mentioned the days of “the use of glass fibers” or “development of fiber-optic cables,” I have no idea what they are. But I thought it does not matter because I can use them. Should I understand the development of those three technologies? I think it's not necessary.

I want to answer the question 2 from the “Consider” in the first page of the chapter 1. It was asking whether those technologies deserve to be called “revolutionary.” My answer is yes. It is evolution but at the same time it is revolution especially the Internet. Because of the Internet, what we are using now are possible.

I remember when I was a little girl. I was curious about phone on a shelf taller than me. I jumped to touch it, but I failed. When I could touch it, my mother put it a little higher so that I couldn’t reach it. It was just a forbidden object.

In my senior year of high school when I proclaimed to live alone close to my high school, my sister bought me a cell phone so that she can reach me any time. Since then I always had cell phone, and if I don’t have it in my hand, I could not focus on my study.

Now, in Korea, almost everybody has a cell phone, and even kindergarten kids have it. Guess what? What it’s like now? As I said, almost everybody has cell phone. What about the telephone? At many of their house, there is no telephone anymore.

And I could notice the changes on telephone. This is not the first year studying in the States. I was in Kansas in 2004- 2006. While I was there, I had to buy international phone card to talk my mom and dad.

Now? I call them with my internet phone. It is like a telephone. It has a receiver. What is different is that there should be an internet connection. If there is no internet connection, it is useless.

One of the best features is that it does not charge a lot. When I’m only charged with the Korean domestic rate (it means it’s the same thing that I’m calling my mom and dad in Korea) and it’s cheaper to call them. I only pay approximately 7 cents for 3 minutes. What a change! When I learned about this, it was amazing. I don’t know exactly how it works, but it’s really great change. It’s a revolution!

I don’t know what it will be like in 3 years and 5 years, but I’ll be looking forward the days of another change.