by Jo Timboung
Taken from The Star 'Tech Central' Column
WITH today’s advances in communications technology, does distance still pack a sting for couples separated by work or circumstance? Is a long distance relationship still as painful for parents with children studying overseas?
There’s no more waiting for snail mail to get news of a loved one in some faraway place nowadays – just pop off an e-mail and wait for the reply. Need to know even sooner? Then use a cellphone, and the charges won’t lead to a hole in your pocket.
Or you can even keep in almost constant contact, with SMS (short message service) or instant messaging via your personal computers.
Heck, there’s no need to imagine your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s face in a bowl of soup anymore. The advent of the 3G (third-generation) handphone and video calls have made this unnecessary.
But are these technologies a good thing?
Remember how you would read and re-read a letter from a loved one over and over again, hanging on to every word, because it took so long for it to reach you. The other party would also likely be doing the same thing with your missives.
You’d likely also carry the pages around in your pocket till it fell to pieces ? or until the next letter arrived, which could also be by the time the earlier one falls apart.
When was the last time you heard someone doing that with an e-mail message? Or an SMS?
Parting is such sweet sorrow, the poets say. So the reunion should be even sweeter. Have we lost something here with our webcams, cellphones and Internet connections?
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