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A pen is mightier than a sword – it is said. Since ages, letters have been the most powerful medium of communication. With the advent of technology, communication has taken new forms like e-mails, chat and SMS. But, letters still remain the best way to express.
With technological advancement in communications, handwritten letters have lost their charm, and are almost outdated. The words in a letter often communicate, but the presentation of the letter expresses.
A few years back, when having a telephone was still a luxury in India, postcards were the only and the most efficient way to reach out the loved ones. I remember receiving two postcards each week from my grandparents. The content may not be always significant, but the feelings were!
On an uneasy day, when nothing seemingly went right for me, I received a typed postcard from my dad. I had gifted him with a book of his favourite author, and he expressed himself with a postcard – a postcard that made my day. A few caring words brings us closer, no matter how distant we are physically.
Technology has constantly bridged the physical distances, but has widened the personal space. With all the technologies at our service, we communicate with people in the remotest parts of the globe, but ironically we fail to communicate our feelings to those who live with us.
As author has very aptly pointed out “SMS reflects the nature of our relationships – short and not always clear in expression”.
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Writer Profile
Tanmay N. Vora
A software quality & management professional - passionate explorer of management/leadership subjects - chooses to look at brighter side of life - loves writing.
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Comments
The alienation of technology Andrew Lauman | Dec 7th, 2002
I so agree with what you are writing. It seems that technology is trying to replace everything we hold true.
Why is that? Greed? The capturing of information?
Where is technology taking us?
Communication Overflows Bhaskar Rathod | Dec 19th, 2002
I agree with the author and I have following observations to offer:
1) Letters still remain the best way to communicate
2) Communication revolution is failing us in communicating in the true sense of the word.
I think we humans have a communication thresold in each relationship. We never want to over-communicate or under-communicate.
Letters allow us to be left alone, and by nature of postal services, letters will have a very low frequency. So it adequately or inadequately fulfils our communication thresholds. Also, they are convenient to carry in a purse. And they have the value of personal touch if the writer.
With the current communication systems, things differ significantly. You can not keep pinging your friend all day long even though you see him logged in on the chat server. Your threshold is not changed even though the ways to communicate have.
But the technology is working its way up. We will see more spacious, faster and more personalized ways to communicate. Of course, a little hand-written note will still have it's value as it is having today. We will redefine personalization with a more integrated role of new communication media and may be we will feel the same nostalgia when we would open dad's email with a 70s theme personalization.
I beg to differ... Vivek Prabhu | Aug 5th, 2003
I am sorry... but I believe that emails, sms's and even phone calls are just as expressive and personal as letters.
I have never written a letter to my near and dear ones... its only emails, phone calls, and sms's that I am used to.
I believe its a question how well one has adapted to the medium in question!
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