In search of correctness

Is predictability becoming part of the older order?

July 16, 2010 at 2:08 pm (Uncategorized)

What is predictability – Wikipedia says “Predictability (also called banality) is the degree to which a correct prediction or forecast of a system’s state can be made either qualitatively or quantitatively.”

20 years ago… Shifting jobs wasn’t even heard off. My dad and mom spent their entire life in state government jobs saving for tomorrow than spending. Their lives was predictable – every 30^th they got their salaries, they knew what is going to be the rate of kerosene, milk, water, food items, rent, school fees of kids, interest rate for their savings and so on. They knew what needs to be done to save, where they will spend the money next month, how much their saving will give them back tomorrow.

10 years ago… Engineering colleges start swarming the city suburbs. From 40 odd engineering colleges half a decade earlier, the number of engineering colleges when my sister attended counseling became 160… Then the new economy was kicking off…. It was only a couple of years since we got telephone at our home… People were joining IT companies…. My cousin married an IT Engg and he had shifted two jobs and was in his third… There were a lot of hush hush talk “Hey this guy has shifted two jobs so far in 5 years”. Salaries was beginning to soar for a section of population (read IT), LPG cylinders replaced kerosene with prices changing every six months, new terms like inflation, stocks, FIIs, service sectors  were becoming prevalent. Ambitions of people started soaring, parents started visiting their children in US, and more TV channels starting airing programs.

Today… There are millions in new age companies in fields like IT / Heathcare / Telecom etc across the county… Service dominates the economy accounting over 50 percent of the economy… New business lines like retail, infrastructure have started dominating the economy… Cricketers are traded like commodity…. Flyovers and freeways are coming up all over the city… Cars dominate the city roads…. Using public transport is becoming outdated… And above all the days of predictability are over… Here after expect your petrol and diesel prices to be changed every month, interest rates to change every three months, continue holding the same job for not more than a couple of years, change your mobile phones every three months, internet connection to become faster every six months, what you learn to become obsolete every two years, and so on and on….

Hello all welcome to the world of unpredictability…. Here people move faster not knowing what lies ahead of them a year from now…. Choices in everything… from job to spouse (but still you get only one)…. Changes in everything every year…. Yesterday orkut… Today facebook and tomorrow convergence of all… Is this change for good or for bad… Wait till the next post… Hope I get some points to write…