Hand Written to Facebook

Getting someone to type my writing was an expensive exercise. If I had a work typed it was one off typing. That was in the mid 1980s—the period of my formative university years.

I taught myself how to use a typewriter in the mid 1980s. I began writing more and more with a typewriter. I bought a typewriter. It cost me a K60 to buy a used one. That amount was a lot of money for a student. I must have earned some money from the NBC broadcast of my stories.

 A typed writing felt magical and powerful. I was a proud owner of the typewriter in the late 1980s, until an innovative product hit our shores in that period.

The arrival of the electronic typewriter in Papua New Guinea signaled the advancement of technologies.

I spend a lot of Saturdays in a shop at Boroko selling the latest technologies on the market. The electronic typewriter was a fancy piece of equipment. The shop was known as the Business Solutions, operating out of what is now Boroko City Pharmacy.

I bought a K400 electronic typewriter that replaced my old Olympus manual typewriter. I must have been studying for my Bachelor of Arts program at that time.

The Apple Macintosh was also introduced around the same time.  It was a very expansive equipment.

Knowledge of computers and information technology was something new to many of us in those days. Few Papua New Guineans were trained in the computer science. During the period of my undergraduate degrees, computers were beyond our level of understanding and ability. It was the dawn of computers as the years rolled into the 1990s.

The 1980s ended with the ever-present computer systems. The competition between Microsoft and IBM saw the world changed to accommodate the powerful human inventions. This led to the revolutionary changes in human societies around the globe. Microsoft and Windows programs challenged each other for global users. 

It dawned on us that computers are here to stay for the long overhaul. Either you jump on the bandwagon or get left behind.

Why am I talking about typewriters and computers? I guess, I can’t help talking about the how I began with handwriting, graduated to typewriter, electronic typewriter, and a computer. I was self-taught and learned everything I could during my lifetime. I self-taught myself to use a typewriter, an electronic typewriter, mainframe windows, the IBM and Apple compatible models of word processing and now media technologies and social media platforms.

It is easy to write and publish a book now-a-days. There are many information technology applications for self-publishing! One can literarily write a book this month and publish it next month. Self-publishing platforms are available online through Amazon.com and others.

I began my writing life from handwriting before moving on to typewriter, electronic typewriter, the mainframe computer, the heavy desktop computer to lighter models, Macintosh, Apple, and now to a small 13-inch computer. If I choose I can even go to the Tablet and Mobile platforms, which I am familiar with. In bygone days the transition word for people moving from typewriter life to a computer life was: “User Friendly”, a word that was not only about computer programs, but also about what the world wanted: computers that anybody can use. Just any one who wants to use a computer and not have to go to school to learn how to use it. 

With computers carving out a permanent mark in human life and societies, the advance of knowledge of computer programming and use knowledge made its impact on the world system through the introduction of emails. Emails changed the communication system of peoples all across the globe. People jumped onto the bandwagon of emails. The mid 1990s saw the permanent presence of emails on the world stage.

By the time I was already studying for my PhD in the United States email was the trend. Like everyone in universities at that time email was a way of life. All assignments had to be typed and printed on paper.

I have come a long way from handwriting essays to typed and printed assignment papers.

I remember I had set an examination for a course at UPNG while I was stationed in Minnesota, USA. I sent the examinations questions via email for students to sit for the examination later in the following week.

In the 1990s the introduction of email dramatically challenged the traditional postal system around the world.

By the turn of the century the arrival of mobile and cellular technologies began slowly to replace expansive telephone systems. The mobile technology reduced cost and fixed systems of communication. People were willing to get hold of the mobile technology to effectively communicate in immediate time with anyone.

Mobile technologies were still very expansive to purchase. It was only after the turn of the century that mobile technology had a dramatic impact on the lives of millions of people around the world.

Media technologies arrived with a big bang. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and blogging took over the world communication needs. Elections were won and political battlefields were drawn through media technologies. Countries are using new media platforms to conduct modern day businesses. There is so much more, media technologies are also for purposes other than what they are for. 

In the publishing arena, the media platforms are there, but I prefer the traditional hardcover printed books. It is challenging because the government is doing nothing. I have published four or five books through co-publishing arrangement. This is not enough. I want to help others find themselves, but without financial support and government backing I can only dream about it.

I started blogging in 2006 while I was in New Zealand. I am still using blogspot.com as this post indicates.

What the future holds is anyone’s guess!