We got a plethora of cd's with the compaq pc, one of which was a Dialup connection software from a private ISP.That was the very first time I was looking at an ISP package,or rather an Internet connection kit.I never putup a dialup before,that ISP had no service in my town unless I connected to it using an external dial in number.But I did tinker with the ISP kit,enabling the internet connection without the knowledge of my parents(Especially my mother!.Parents were still stereotypic in thinking that the internet was a bad place to fumble upon unlpleasant things at that age :) ).What I never knew was that we would be charged in terms of telephonic calls rather than the number of hours we used the line...the result :- Even the telephone department was surprised as to how we were making so many calls everyday :D.
We got a huge bill that month,I could only imagine what a silly thing I had done by using that ISP.There ended the matter of using an internet connection in my home! For the next 4 years a weekly visit to the nearest Internet cafe became my habit.I was so regular that the owner was generous enough to let me use his system for free at times when I had to chat on yahoo.. dunno how much I spent but my mother who had become conspicuous about my fondness towards the internet ultimately decided to apply for a broadband connection at home.Thank goodness the rates had fallen drastically by that time!Suddenly the internet was available to at a reasonable price.Dialup connections were a thing of the past and I started to utilise it by learning about the tech world in particular be it he PC,mobile or the cloud itself.
Two years ago,I stumbled upon something during my random Internet searches.I screwed my Lenovo desktop and wanted a quick solution for the same.A Google search landed me on the Lenovo community and since then I have never looked back.I say this because this has been one of the worthiest things I have ever done through the internet.Reaching out to my fellow users regardless of the boundaries helping them with their tech problems.
All long the way I made new friends from various timezones across the world,learned about various cultures,ethics and beliefs.The so called "Digital divide" had been bridged! at least in my case.During the last two years of my bachelors I was hooked on to the internet,it was around 3 in the morning one day when I was still awake sitting before my PC.I had become a nocturnal person by then...All of a sudden my mother was at my side looking curiously at the screen on what I was doing at that early time.Among other things customer collaboration was one of my regular activity. I did not hesitate to explain what the forums were all about and how I was simply not wasting my time but was trying to do my bit of help.Pat came the response to which I was pleasantly surprised!.She was happy to see me helping out others... This was my first recognition of using the internet in a positive way from my mother and as a result my first major milestone
Blogging has been another case which I truly believe has brought maturity about my perception towards the Internet.During an interaction with the forum's senior member I realized that Blogs were indeed a platform to let the world to know about you,whatever you felt was good enough to share.Blogs also meant that I could express myself to the more broader audience of the Blogosphere and the rest of the Internet as well..So i started writing on random thoughts and rambling about things which mattered to me the most... This has been the second most importance milestone I crossed on the InformationSuper Highway..
Today at 24 I sometimes analyze how I started with this wonderful invention and how I am leveraging on it to my own advantage of Gaining and Sharing knowledge.Knowledge is power!Knowledge is divine!
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