Gitex 2009
My first Gitex, some years ago, I was overwhelmed with the new technology.
This Gitex, I went to the Home of the Future. They had a display of a new charger system for those with multiple devices constantly in need of recharging, but whose flat has only one plug. The system could simultaneously recharge three devices and only needed one outlet.
'How does it work?' I asked. The exhibitor said, 'I'll show you,' and picked up one of the devices. The alarm went off, thinking the exhibitor was trying to steal the device. The alarm was quite loud, and none of the exhibitors knew how to turn it off, so I slipped away, not wanting to remain around as the ultimate cause, if not the proximate offender. And, in any case, I couldn't hear what the exhibitor was saying over the alarm.
Then I wandered into a talk on social networking. Basically, every young, with-it person is now part of multiple social networks, while we old fogies aren't.
I recall a paper newspaper reporter talking about her joining Facebook after being 'invited' by her daughter, who had access since the daughter was a student at Harvard (NB: the mother had gotten into Harvard only because her parents were from Harvard; her daughter had gotten into Harvard entirely on merit, without regard to her parents). What the reporter didn't say was that Facebook originally had no search function: you were offered to 'poke' only those Facebook members at your own university, and those whose Facebook accounts you already knew, so the reporter poked her own daughter, but was rebuffed. The mother's only friend was the default Facebook friend. Facebook is no longer like that: you no longer need either to be a Harvard student or alumnus to join, nor do you need an invitation from a Harvard student or alumnus, but paper newspaper reporters still write articles that their children do not appreciate having their parents poking them on Facebook. Whatever 'poking on Facebook' means. (As an old fogie, I have no idea.)
Since Facebook is a closed book to me, I again wandered off, and found I'd seen most of this year's Gitex, without seeing any technology that overwhelmed me.
Mainly because I now resist all new technology, unlike five years ago when I welcomed it.
But then, five years ago was before social networking.
This Gitex, I went to the Home of the Future. They had a display of a new charger system for those with multiple devices constantly in need of recharging, but whose flat has only one plug. The system could simultaneously recharge three devices and only needed one outlet.
'How does it work?' I asked. The exhibitor said, 'I'll show you,' and picked up one of the devices. The alarm went off, thinking the exhibitor was trying to steal the device. The alarm was quite loud, and none of the exhibitors knew how to turn it off, so I slipped away, not wanting to remain around as the ultimate cause, if not the proximate offender. And, in any case, I couldn't hear what the exhibitor was saying over the alarm.
Then I wandered into a talk on social networking. Basically, every young, with-it person is now part of multiple social networks, while we old fogies aren't.
I recall a paper newspaper reporter talking about her joining Facebook after being 'invited' by her daughter, who had access since the daughter was a student at Harvard (NB: the mother had gotten into Harvard only because her parents were from Harvard; her daughter had gotten into Harvard entirely on merit, without regard to her parents). What the reporter didn't say was that Facebook originally had no search function: you were offered to 'poke' only those Facebook members at your own university, and those whose Facebook accounts you already knew, so the reporter poked her own daughter, but was rebuffed. The mother's only friend was the default Facebook friend. Facebook is no longer like that: you no longer need either to be a Harvard student or alumnus to join, nor do you need an invitation from a Harvard student or alumnus, but paper newspaper reporters still write articles that their children do not appreciate having their parents poking them on Facebook. Whatever 'poking on Facebook' means. (As an old fogie, I have no idea.)
Since Facebook is a closed book to me, I again wandered off, and found I'd seen most of this year's Gitex, without seeing any technology that overwhelmed me.
Mainly because I now resist all new technology, unlike five years ago when I welcomed it.
But then, five years ago was before social networking.
posted by Dubai@Random at 1:30 am
4 Comments:
Hi there,
I'm sorry to write you this in a comment to a post, but I didn't know how else to reach you.
I’m writing you on behalf of Watani, the UAE’s national identity program.
As you know, we are lucky to live in a country where hundreds of people from all over the world, of different cultures and nationalities, live together peacefully.
To celebrate just that, we have launched an initiative called “Al Mutahida” which is Arabic for being united, or togetherness. Under this initiative, that will build up to National Day celebrations on December 2, we have a few activities for which we want to encourage participation of people who love living in the UAE. To inform them about the initiatives and motivate participation, we’d like your help.
We selected you because you live in the UAE, and have an interesting and relevant blog! :-) We’d love you to write a post about our initiative and its purpose on your blog. Would you be willing to support us by doing so? If so, please let us know and we will send you all the relevant information. Also, let us know if you have any questions.
Please help us celebrate the amazing spirit of the country we all live in!
Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks and regards,
Abha Malpani
The Watani Team
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WATANI/171834654444?ref=nf
www.watani.ae
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