I get a childish excitement when I discover a new technology. It might have something to do with watching Tomorrow’s World and other new technology programmes when I was a kid. All the cool kids may just think communicating without wires is run of the mill, but I thought it it was pretty good.
When I started translating I didn’t even have a fax machine. I delivered the first few jobs I did to the one local client I had on my bike. It was a good distance away and up and down hills, so at least I got fit. I got a drink when I arrived and sometimes even lunch. It wasn’t however the best and most efficient way of running a business.
In 1998 I bought a modem
I’m not sure whether it was 1200 or 2400 bit/s, but even then, it was an antique. I was however able to send faxes. And receive them. Faxes had been around since the 1970s but these were the first time they had been sent directly to me – sad perhaps.
I remember the first time I transferred a file electronically
I used a French programme called Winphone to transfer a file to a client in Paris using the aforementioned modem and the Z modem protocol. It took a few attempts and the client was starting to get impatient, but in the end the file got through. I felt like I’d split the atom!
I tried getting on the Internet with a 2400 bit/s modem
Ever the optimist, of course it was painfully slow. What’s more I did with an audience of someone I wanted to impress. And I looked stupid.
Then I got a 14000 bit/s modem and got on the Internet
I installed three or four programmes without being too sure of what I was doing. My new modem was super fast and I could actually display whole pages on my screen in a few seconds on a 14″ screen. Welcome to the modern world.
Broadband
Today, we all take a broadband Internet connection for granted. Most people wouldn’t be able to run a business without one. I lived in a rural area of France at the time which was one of the last in line to get a high-speed connection, I’d almost considered moving to somewhere larger just to get it. Then, it suddenly happened, I got it just before moving to the UK. The phone could ring and I was still online, yippee! I wasn’t worrying any more about whether I’d used up all my time allowance on my crummy dial-up package (30 hours I seem to remember).
Since then?
It’s been a bit humdrum really, modem speeds have increased through the 56000 bit/s barrier to broadband speeds of, depending where you live, up to 100 Mbit/s. Disks sizes have grown exponentially. All same as, same as really. It hasn’t given us much really.
Social media
Then social media came along. Some people are still sceptical, but I think it’s a real game changer. Not just Twitter, Facebook and blogs, but ever since Amazon started putting product reviews by actual users up against the product descriptions, the way we do business changed. I still haven’t been using Twitter for very long, Facebook even less, but I’ve had more connection with potential clients than ever before. I’ll never send (or probably even write) a direct mail letter ever again.
We take these communication technologies for granted today and I’m sure I’ll get excited about more of them in the future. I hope I never lose that thrill. Am I wrong?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
You had a local client on your bike? No wonder you got fit!
I read with interest your ‘since then’ paragraph, because you omit 3G phone networks and the advent of Wi-Fi. They seem to have changed our online life more significantly than faster broadband speeds.
Even on the latter point, this “small business manifesto” from Doug Richard declares fast broadband to be essential infrastructure:
http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/news/startups/5750498/doug-richard-get-rid-of-business-link.thtml
I do enjoy your stories of early attempts to get online and send faxes. In those days, you’d really marvel at each small step in the progress march. We’re less easily amazed now we can take for granted phones that double as computers and cameras