What are we without tech today? I couldn’t even be writing this blog. The word blog itself wouldn’t exist.
How far have we come? Ridiculously far, by all accounts.
Even a country like India – today known as an IT superpower – just a few decades ago was nowhere on the tech-map.
Even the premier Indian institutes of today, like the IITs, did not have computers. The story of IIT Kanpur getting it’s first (super)computer is thought provoking.
It was back in the 60s, or August 1963 to be precise. Transporting the IBM 1620 computer to IIT Kanpur was no easy feat. At that time, the bad roads of Kanpur made it difficult to transport such heavy and fragile electronic equipment. The team was worried that the vibrations from the truck could damage the electronic circuits, so they decided to transport it by bullock carts with inflated tires!
But the difficulties didn’t end there. When the computer arrived at the IIT Kanpur computer center, they found that the door was too small to take it in. The team had to break down a wall to install the computer!
Concluded tomorrow!