Catch ’em old!

Says J Fernandes,a retired government employee,“I use an Apple I-pod Touch which my son gifted me last year. The idea of using a touchscreen device was a bit new to me,considering the fact that when I was young,the most that mankind had achieved was putting a man on the moon. So yeah,I was apprehensive about using a touchscreen device,but once I got hold of the system,I found it to be quite simple. Nevertheless,I do make it a point to surf the net now to buy songs from the I-tunes store. So,that’s another first for me.”

Seconding that thought is K Srinivas,an engineer working with an automobile company,who says,“As far as technology goes,I really need to keep abreast of what is new in the market. Firstly,because of my profession and secondly,because I have had this huge crazy for fancy gadgets ever since I first saw them abroad. As of now,I use a MacBook Air for all my designing purposes,a Blackberry to stay in touch with all my office colleagues,and a Sony Vaio Pocket VGF-AP1L digital music player,that has not yet come to India.”

From snazzy music players,expensive camcorders,Playstations and limited edition notebooks,these folks are not ready to settle for anything but the best. More than that,they also make it a point to compete with their children and grand children as far as being tech savvy is concerned. “My son was definitely a little shocked and worried,if I may add,when he saw me play GTA (Grand Theft Auto),Counter Strike and NFS (Need For Speed) on a brand new Play Station 3. Obviously,of all people in the world,he did not expect his mother to play these games which are a little graphic in nature. But then,as a teenager,we did not even have TV in our house. So,this is my chance to try out these fancy things. As far as learning these games go,it was my neighbour’s grandson who taught me how to play them when he used to come to my house,” laughs Mariam Sheikh,a housewife.

Vijay Kumar Jandial,another tech-savvy says,“I use the new Dell Inspiron Notebook,which I find very handy and easy-to-use. True,technology might be overwhelming for some,but I find it relatively easy to use these new generation gadgets. My wife,Aarti,on the other hand uses a Nokia 5800 touch screen mobile,which,even though it appears complicated to look at,is one of the simplest devices.”

While the days when your grandparents fumbled for words for your new video game might be over,these third generation,old school techies can sure leave the hep,young crowd flummoxed for words,with their tech-savvy ways.