Back to the future

I consider myself a bit of a traditionalist, I hold doors open for ladies, I generally wear a tie for work and I miss using things like telephone boxes and paper diaries.

When you have been brought up in an era of black & white TV, party line telephones, no mobile phones, and no computers or electronic games, you tend to get a little nostalgic for the past as this generation will be in 20-30 years time when things like the X-Box will be a thing of museums.

My kids always laugh and joke with me when I start to talk about the "old days", but I just know that this is a generation thing and they will be doing exactly the same themselves in the future.

The reason I have gone on this trip of nostalgia is the news that after 163 years India are ceasing their Telegram service. Now, for one, I have to admit that I didn't realise that telegrams were still in use, but for those in remote areas of India that have had to rely on this vintage form of email, it must be a sad day.

For many of us, the development of computers and Internet technology along with mobile telephones where we can speak or send a text message to someone on the other side of the world while walking down a street is now part of our everyday life. To have these taken away from us would be unthinkable, but this is how some people in India may be feeling today.

Our working life has changed dramatically from the days of reps having to stop to use a telephone by the side of the road to call the office or a customer. Or companies employing 100's of typists for their typing pool all writing the same letter for a "mail shot" which can now all be done automatically. From the days of spending hours of hand drawing plans and interior designs, architects and designers now have computer programs to assist them.

Even today as I write this it is with one click of a button going to be, within seconds, reachable to an audience worldwide.

In an ever changing world, lets remember the past with fondness, but look forward to the future with excitement.

John Northwood