Thursday, March 24, 2011

Evolution





When  my dad told me that a technician will swing  by the house to install a  modem on my computer, the initiative was met with indifference.  Barely two months after receiving a  Compaq Presario from him, being left alone with my computer games is all I've ever wanted.

Internet  then was a new and strange technology. It wasn't even commercially available in the country.  When average desktops still use Windows95 and Intel 486 processors, mine was considered advanced for its age.

Tapping  into the matrix for the first time is like entering a new world.   There were only few websites available though. I remember the technician showing me the NBA page, which led me to look at the time on the alarm clock. Codes for Firefox and IE have yet to be conceived, so we made the most out of Netscape Navigator, no matter how cumbersome and virus-prone it is. 

I remember the first website I  saw.  It was about the Face on Mars, which was taken when a probe surveyed  the planet's surface. Flustered, I thought the photos were real.  Many years later, science would prove otherwise. The images were produced by a combination of light tricks and poor image resolution. By then, the Internet would be swamped with hoax photos and videos that separated the gullible from the suspicious. Once in a while, these photos would appear in some rundown website and distracts people from their worldly affairs.

Internet providers then were varied and disunited.  However, data came from a single source which  was the telephone. Back then, I was pretty satisfied with the current technology, even if the occasional phone unavailability roused the ire of my father at least, I am connected. 

I never bothered to evolve.

Days  would  roll into eons while letting my network connectivity linger in a backward state.  Drive went to updating  my hardware to keep up with the games I bought at Datablitz. Miniaturization shrank the book-sized modem, allowing it to be directly plugged into the motherboard. I lied when I claimed no knowledge of WIFI and broadband.  A friend from Smart spoke about these technologies and how it would revolutionize information before they became available to these shores.

As fortunes steadily declined, priorities had to be made. Money went to the family, to the ex, to pay for my personal bills. While still capable of making a giant leap, determination to accept change kept me from growing.  I  got stuck with dial-up believing it was enough to provide for my bandwidth needs.  Besides, there was the Internet Cafes should I decide to speed up my access.  




source




Soon, I  would build my entire career around the idea that my brain is jacked into a computer port. The Internet  has never been an unfamiliar terrain and vast knowledge, which is just being discovered now were things I already applied even before they became pop ideas.

I was at the forefront of upheavals.  When  Wikipedia and Twitter were just setting up,  I was there to support these social media ventures.  Unknowingly, I  used SEO to make my first  Combatron tribute appear on the first page of every search engine. I was employed at a data mining firm before the practice became mainstream.  Lacking discipline, I could have learned html and css had I spent my time on it instead of writing.

Ironic that  for  someone who is highly capable, he got stuck using ancient technology. Blame my procrastination for it. I simply couldn't find the courage to take the giant step and switch to a much faster connection. Plans  have been drawn a few years back, but because our street was largely ignored when cables were laid around the block, I appeased myself buying Blast prepaid cards until broadband knocks at my door.

Technology  wasn't really unavailable. There were SmartBro and Sun Broadband which I could always plug in my USB port. Wi-Tribe came into the picture last year. Lacking good reviews however, I decided to withhold my application.

The problem sprung from the selection. With so many options to choose from,  I couldn't bear settling for less. Besides, with existing contracts with some of the best providers in the market, I thought of waiting  out of my belief  that I could gain more. 

So I  waited and waited until the fiber optic cables of Sky Broadband reach the home front.  There was PLDT MyDSL dangling like a carrot everytime I see the landline. But with the complicated instructions for application, (the phone isn't ours)  I thought of  killing the thought. Sooner or later, my patience will be rewarded and when it does, I hope there's no regret with my decision.

For we have been a Skycable subscriber for the last decade.        

Finally,  the waiting bore fruit last week, when a broadband representative perched a tent across the street. Soft-selling took merely minutes, and they promised swift connection in a matter of days.  It took only three days for the technicians to show up, and unlike the kid who once showed apathy towards the new technology,  this time, that technology promises unlimited freedom.

With  the opening of vast horizons denied to me  for a long time comes the pain of another bill payment. At P999, the price would cut deep into my already stretched-out salary.  For now, I would suspend my natural inclination to distress over budget constraints.   What time could still afford,  I would bask at the moment when I can forget about that 56K connection.   






This time, I have evolved.




16 comments:

Ms. Chuniverse said...

Wow, that's fast enough. Globe kasi offers speed of up to 1MBPS for the same price pero never umabot sa 1MBPS ang speed namin based din sa speedtest.net.

eon said...

as soon as we move to a new place i'm going to get sky broadband din. :)

Kapitan Potpot said...

Ganito din sa amin, yung side ng street namin hindi pwede sa lines ng PLDT, while the other side of the street pwede, ang weird lang.

Mabilis ka na makakapagdownload ngaun ng MP3s niyan to add to your large collection. Hehe.:)

Mr. G said...

good for you!

My DSL always times out! Kainis! In the middle of browsing, biglang cut then it connects again. Hassle if you are on skype and YM. YM automatically shuts down when it times out. I am thinking of changing my DSL.

Anonymous said...

You can tweak the speed. Just access the modem's IP address via browser. hehehe

I also can't remember how the old ages looks like. I can;t recall the steps to dial for you to connect.

We're lucky that technology is in reach of our generation :)

dark_knight said...

ayan! more porno!!! hhaha

Ryan said...

Congratulations. ;)

Nimmy said...

wow! pa-download ako ng mga movies!!!! hihi ,")

Spiral Prince said...

So, you're beyond homo sapiens now?! Congrats, Mugen! Now, I should get one, too, sooner or later. :))

P.S.

Do you still remember the TONS of geocities pages back then?!

Unknown said...

We're heading to a very techie world. Soon internet speeds will be upgraded as the trend now is cloud computing. Meaning a database or 'cloud' you can access anywhere if you have connection.
It's very fascinating yet very risky.

Sean said...

tulad ng sinabi ni louie, mas lalawak na ang mp3 collection mo mugen. i checked yung speedtest.net and nakakainggit pala ang ave. speed sa korea at ibang bansa.

Mugen said...

Sean:

Nakita ko nga yung sa ibang bansa. Likas na mas mabilis ang download speed nila kesa sa atin. Medyo nakakauna lang tayo sa Indonesia ng kaunti.

Xall

I am 5 years late with this kind of technology. I hope I could catch up, like I did with computers.

SpiralPrince

I will be part human and part machine in my next life. Haha. Just watch out.

A friend of mine created his first journal in geocities. Its slow connection kept us from reading his entries. Thanks for making me remember..

Mugen said...

Nimmy:

Hindi pa ako nagagawi sa Pirate Bay. Hehehe

Ryan:

Thanks man!

Mr. Chan:

I try my best to remember, but I too can't recall how connection was made many years ago. Hehehe

Dingding:

Bininyagan ko na nung pumunta ako sa Lifeout. Heheh.

Mugen said...

Mr. G:

Sa ngayon, problema ko ang kailangang magreboot palagi bago gumana ang PC saka yung modem. Though hindi ko naman naranasan mag time out pa. Heheh.

Ano provider mo?

Louie:

Hanggang hindi ko naiintindihan yung mga technical glitches ng bago kong connection, matatagalan bago ako magdownload ng music.

Eon

Download speed is constant. Avail their promo if you can.

Miss Chuni:

Meron kasi kaming Skycable kaya discounted ang price ng Broadband ko. Sensya na hindi ko nasabi sa entry.

casado said...

My nephews in Cavite uses Globe for their DSL, I talk to them nightly sa Skype/YM, wla namang problema, reliable sya..

and naku, lagi na kayo nyan nsa skype ni baabaa ahahaha :P

Mugen said...

Soltero:

Haha until the problems of my computer have been resolved, matatagalan pa yun. :)