how times have changed

Whilst going through my email today, I found one advertising a meeting of the local branch of the BCS (British Computer Society) where a speaker will talk about managing the deluge of email in the workplace.
It set me thinking, as I recently discovered an old issue of the local newsletter from around 20 years ago. It was, like all newsletters of the time, printed and one of the articles in it was from me! I had written introducing this new means of communication - electronic mail. It was when the internet was still relatively unknown and messages were sent using dedicated gateways on a process called UUCP. Access was by modem and phone line, with many people using 'acoustic couplers' on their telephone handset. That was capable of a fantastic 1200 baud (or about 120 characters per second) !

I had been involved in getting a local company to set up international electronic links, and so I was invited to write about it in a couple of articles in the local BCS newsletter.

How times have changed. Everyone now takes email for granted. It should not be surprising though, really. The Baha'i Faith Writings have mention of world communications, and even in the Book of Ezekiel in the Bible it speaks of 'lightnings that flash to and fro' along with 'chariots jostling in the streets' as things to come in the future.