In 2006, digital to me was something that you wore on your wrist and not to be confused with the simple tool called the internet. But then, it changed the day I arrived in Pune. Everyone was suddenly talking digital as if the next door guy was receiving his morning milk through some browser or something.
Banks were going online with a frenzy. Websites were springing up all over the place for every conceivable item including Puja essentials. Of course, it was all information as people still did not fathom how to do e-commerce through it.
I sat in a semi-dark office and first read the brochure in front of me. Digital homes. All the rooms and some of the appliances in the house would be going digital. Your mobile shall get information about certain information that you may require about your home. You could also control things through your mobile. That’s what the brochure said. I was awed. Man, if this really happens!
A few days later, the guys who were setting up the technology for the real estate developer who was making the homes, arrived. I was inquisitive. I asked them a lot of questions. What’s the technology? What’s the customer actually going to do? What’s his benefit?
The answers were ominous. As by then, I had also seen the quality of construction.
They were doing door surveillance systems. The systems would send an SMS to the mobile of the owner. But the door could be hammered open in a flash. They were doing music control systems but could not explain what were going to be the recipient music systems. I asked if a Phillips CD system was playing Kishore Kumar in the bedroom, could it change to Lata Mangeshkar if I sat and played with my mobile in the living room without getting up. It couldn’t. Some light control systems were also there but unproven as the occupants who were asking for tubelights weren’t applicable. They had nightclubs in mind when they developed that idea. It went on to other implausible ideas that they were still tinkering with at their office. The developers were vague, to say the least.
I pitied the guys who had bought the homes on the basis of this tag line. Amazingly, a lot of them had bought.
So, I went to a home that had been bought and occupancy was on its way. A dog walked around the living room. The doors were nearly bent without paint at the right time. The walls could be used for percussion. The vibration was audible. The undulation of the walls rivalled the Western Ghats. The bathrooms could be brought down by a child with a small hockey stick.
A novice developer, a snazzy marketing agent and a harebrained technology firm make the Puneites spin around.
Digital homes! RIP!!
Digital, a survivor. Just about.
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