E-COMMUNICATION : MIND-BOGGLING EVOLUTION

“Yes Sir, the email to all the queries put forward by the client has been delivered. I am expecting the response any SECOND.” I said to my General Manager as he inquired about the progress on one of the projects under my jurisdiction. That’s just a speck of the awesome revolutionary era of mind-boggling and light-speed e-communication that has rendered the earlier modes of communication archaic.

Gone are the days when protracted intervals used to be an element of communication between two ends. The rapidly evolving world has come a long way from the earliest forms of human interaction to the first mechanical computing machine by Sir Charles Babbage to today’s mesmerizing laptops, iphones, blackberrys and tablets. It would be quite pertinent to state here that today’s implausible gizmos and gadgets of communication seen ubiquitously and utilized by the masses have truly transformed our cosmic planet into a global village. We barely have time to pause and observe these days on how far communications technology has progressed. Within a blink of an eye, we have transitioned from email to chat to blogs to social networks and more recently to Twitter. The ever changing era of electronic communication has become an integral part of almost everyone'.

Yes ! Almost everyone. Cellular communication, say, has recently become so easy-on-the-pocket that even a hawker has a mobile at his disposal. Believe me that the Teen dabbay wala bhoosi tukday wala who once used to (and still though) roam the streets under the sweltering heat has his cell number published on the web. Easy accessibility and connectivity. Is it Not? Holographic projection and gesture detection (as shown in the sci-fi movies nowadays) are some of the soft tools of communication that would be in use in early 2030s as stated by the Consumer Xperience Design (CXD) team with members from around the globe, including China, Korea, North America, Latin America and the UK who have sketched their visions of how we would ‘get in touch’ and make the communications experience more interactive, in the not-so-distant future. Cell phones and PCs are increasingly being woven into a global grid of computers wirelessly connected to the Internet.  I would definitely agree with the predictions made by Raymond “Ray” Kurzweil, an American futurist. In that he has envisioned a $1,000 personal computer carrying as much raw power as the human brain. Wow ! Now that’s some noteworthy evolution of technology. Imagine the evolution which we would experience in e-communication, accordingly.

With the recent explosion of mobile devices, the communication game has again seen a dynamic change. While with traditional computers instant reach-ability was not always possible, mobile devices eliminate this gap. There has been an explosion of chatting and twittering on cell phones, proving that real-time communication is what people crave.  And these are only some of the changes we are seeing now. There will be unanticipated and ripple effects we can't imagine. For example, will electronic mail become a bulwark to avoid communications or confrontations that might be better resolved in person? Will managers find themselves traveling more in order to gain the personal touch with members of distributed workgroups? How will organizations prepare themselves for this increased level of participatory constituent interaction? We are witnessing a breathtaking evolution of new forms of digital communication. More than witnessing, we are facilitating it. All of this is unfolding so quickly that we do not have time to pause and reflect on what is happening. What really different and new forms of communication are we going to see next? I am leaving this as an open question and invite readers to comment.

Tehsin Shah - Karachi