Now a handy guide to using the internet in india
Book Review
The Penguin Guide to Using the Internet in India
Pratik Kanjilal
Penguin Books
Pp 289, Rs 195
The Internet movement in India started simply enough:
a bulletin board service called Fidonet that provided basic e-mail and file
transfer facilities. Operators would dial into Singapore¿s Internet gateway to
transfer the mail their users had pooled in that day and replies would be
collected the next night. This system worked well, but there was one hitch -
the time lag.
Which is why, when VSNL offered their own version of
this service, people who could afford it readily signed up. But, as the author
puts it, it was only to loudly repent their decision afterwards.
VSNL¿s association with the Internet has been like a
toothache - long and painful. Long after the US had moved onto fancier things
like virtual reality, Indians were only offered UNIX, the black screen with the
blinking cursor. Worse, their e-mail addresses were governed by bureaucratic
codes. The author himself, now known as pratik@littlemag.com, had to put up
with DELAA09@vsnl.net.in! And to top it all, access was restricted, due to
certain "security reasons", which meant that some people were disallowed
from coming anywhere near it.
Now, of course, with private Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and the prospect of reforms in the cable TV business, most
people are able to afford some sort of access to the Internet. So what better
to have lying around the house than a book that tells you everything you need
to know about it?
Mr Kanjilal, the author, has been an editor and
writer, has worked with The Indian Express, Economic Times and Business
Standard, and currently publishes a journal called The Little Magazine. He
started using the Internet before the first dialup connections came to India.
And having written weekly columns on the subject, he is able to provide a
brilliant analysis through this book.
The first two chapters of the book deal with popular
conceptions (and misconceptions) about the Internet. More importantly, they
contain a troubleshooting section, which tries to solve any problems a person
might have, and provides useful tips. Example: do NOT use the office network
for personal uses; the company has a legitimate right to fire you! Apparently a
woman in the UK was fired for sending her daughter e-mails from work. She
appealed in court, and lost.
Next is the section on ISPs, e-mails, and search engines. Before coming to the point, the author provides an introduction to each theme, briefly summing up the history behind the start of each. His quality lies in the ability to intersperse information with the most fascinating of trivia. For example, how many people know that Yahoo, one of the first search engines, derived its name from its very purpose - Yet Another Hierarchically Organised Oracle! Or that the term ¿computer bug¿ actually originated from an actual bug getting trapped in the works of a Mark II computer and causing it to stop functioning! In the section he talks about most of the major search engines and provides a brief description of them, so that a user can find the specific one he wants.