IT-savvy... not for some people

Moonrise
A celestial wonder


I remember some years ago when we were first introduced to the computer. Many of us then were quite ignorant on how to use it and marveled at those who could. What most young people took for granted today, was quite foreign to us. People were not willing or shy to learn when they have reached a certain age. Moreover the cost of a good computer then was quite prohibitive. This kept away a lot of people. Now computers, PCs or notebooks are available at affordable prices and thanks to Tun M who brought us all, kicking and screaming into the IT world.

I managed to persuade my boss to buy an IBM computer costing about RM27,000 and forced myself to learn Word Perfect and Harvardgraphics ( no windows then!). The reason was simple, I had been accepted as a fellow at the International Child Health Institute, University of London, and one of their conditions, I must be computer-savvy! I had no choice but to jump on the technology bandwagon. Imagine,we had to use Medline for our extensive literature search, it was archaic compared to the present-day internet. We had no hand phones and facsimile was also new.

I know of people who do not use the internet despite having the facilities. I once came across an old schoolmate who gave me her hand phone number but when I sent an SMS to her she never replied till one day I met her and asked why and she told me she did not know how to send an SMS... unbelievable and I dubbed her an alien. The same with email, there are people, especially the over 50 who do not know how to send emails!

Communication and Information Technology is instrumental in promoting a virtual world. We are living in an exciting time, albeit slightly tempered by the current economic downturn, people need to be IT-savvy to realise its full potential. It is hard for some people because they refuse to learn, because the technology was not there when they were young or because they are just being complacent... the case of a lazy mind.