Using ‘Broadband’ in India
General Thoughts October 2nd, 2005
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Tags: Broadband in India, BSNL
Using ‘Broadband’ in India
Over the past few weeks, my life has been kind of topsy-turvy. I have always been the proverbial night owl; never seen the rising sun in ages. However, BSNL has changed my life to an extent. I wake up early mornings to be able to catch the “free timeâ€. Jokes apart, the download limits are pathetic.
What have I been doing with my broadband? Contrary to BSNL’s assertions, there is minimal use of peer-to-peer file sharing. At best, I am trying to download Kubuntu- the KDE based Ubuntu. I can be classified as a LEECHER in torrent lingo- though howsoever I desire to seed the files, I become aware of the huge usage charges that I would have to pay.
In any case, over the past few weeks, I have been scouring around the Internet for information. Agreed that there is a huge repository of information- one can prevent himself from information deluge by being selective. For example, I rely on Digg to update me on Technology.
This is the era of open source and open access to information. Some medical journals allow free access for ip’s originating from Indian subcontinent which otherwise in print cost is prohibitive. However, the icing on the cake goes to Public Library of Science (Plos) which believes in true open access; in a way, they have made an excellent resource totally free of cost.
The arguments for or against Open Access is totally out of scope here; the merits of the case rest on the fact that broadband has allowed the information at a faster rate.
Apart from the email or routine upload of my digital camera pictures on to Flickr, I discovered Skype. It has been there for quite sometime now- the hoopla seems to have died down. However, there have been many instances, which show that how Skype has ushered in free pc-to-pc phone calls (VoIP) and people from all over the world managing their businesses and lives. Had eBay not taken over Skype, it was in the sidelines taking on competition to Yahoo’s Net2Phone and Google talk.
All this and more. Websites have hosted streaming audios and videos for desirous students to participate in debates or watch surgical operations. A dedicated website has various heart sounds online; hard to come by in clinical practice, I was able to fine-tune myself to the topic at hand. (Arguably, not my interest at all-Orthopedics and Surgery rules my life!)
I remember the old dial up which was appropriately called as www or World Wide Wait. Truly, we have come from those horror times; but as Rajesh Jain writes back and I quote:
†That same stifling is now being seen in broadband. We delight in calling 256 Kbps as broadband when countries like Japan and South Korea talk of speeds 10-20 times higher. This is where we lack imagination. We think of broadband as just a high-speed data line when it is really a fundamental building block for tomorrow’s world. Whether it is education or healthcare, we have to reinvent processes and workflows if we have to make up for all those lost decades – and a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure is one way to catch up and leapfrog.â€
How very true. I would love to know as to how Internet has changed YOUR life- it would be illuminating to know your perspective too. As they say, it is only our imagination that limits us- there is a lot that we can learn and gain; in a way contribute back to the same society that brings us on to this state.
Mr. Maran- you are surely stuck in a time warp. Accept this fact.
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About
As a septuagenarian, who has always been actively interested in computers, IT and related fields for the past few decades, it was freshening to hear some frank talk by Abhishek.
After struggling a number of years with India’s joke of a dial-up internet connection, I changed to MTNL’s broadband (512 kbps) just about two weeks back. Pror to that I had been using “home” broadband in the UK for about six months to impart some first-hand experience to my aged and tired hands. I must say that despite the frank opinion expressed by Abhishek above, I am beginning to be happy with the 512 kbps broadband by MTNL here. Except one point. Their server(s) is down (hanged, they say) probably two to three times a week. I can’t put in a complaint before 10:30 AM on a working day, because that’s the earliest the telephone helper at 1504 is available; — and, of course, I am on my own on weekends and holidays! To be honest to MTNL, their srever gets “de-hanged” within half an hour of my complaint.
But then I am not a professional any more. So my happiness with the present setup is just a small half-sweet drop in the ocean of general discontent so expressly explained by Abhisek. My only suggestion to him is to have patience and wait, because nothing, absolutely nothing, ever happens in India so fast; particularly in electronics and IT! We are great in doing timely jobs (BPO and others) for outsiders, but for us Indians, we take our own sweet time to implement the same things here! Therefore, patience is the keyword. As they say, ‘we shall overcome someday!’
As a septuagenarian, who has always been actively interested in computers, IT and related fields for the past few decades, it was freshening to hear some frank talk by Abhishek.
After struggling a number of years with India’s joke of a dial-up internet connection, I changed to MTNL’s broadband (512 kbps) just about two weeks back. Pror to that I had been using “home” broadband in the UK for about six months to impart some first-hand experience to my aged and tired hands. I must say that despite the frank opinion expressed by Abhishek above, I am beginning to be happy with the 512 kbps broadband by MTNL here. Except one point. Their server(s) is down (hanged, they say) probably two to three times a week. I can’t put in a complaint before 10:30 AM on a working day, because that’s the earliest the telephone helper at 1504 is available; — and, of course, I am on my own on weekends and holidays! To be honest to MTNL, their srever gets “de-hanged” within half an hour of my complaint.
But then I am not a professional any more. So my happiness with the present setup is just a small half-sweet drop in the ocean of general discontent so expressly explained by Abhisek. My only suggestion to him is to have patience and wait, because nothing, absolutely nothing, ever happens in India so fast; particularly in electronics and IT! We are great in doing timely jobs (BPO and others) for outsiders, but for us Indians, we take our own sweet time to implement the same things here! Therefore, patience is the keyword. As they say, ‘we shall overcome someday!’