Sometimes, the marriage of religion and technology can result in a rocky relationship, but like the marriage of two people, the truth of the union of those two souls into one becomes realized. Technology is often at odds with religion (and vice versa), since technology is an extremely powerful tool that is defined independently of religion. Like all tools, it can be used wrongfully or for perversion, but may also be used for the betterment of humankind in harmony with the tenets of the gurus.

First, allow me to bring some background. I'm Anglo-Saxon with Irish-German-French-Portuguese blood who has recently become Amritdhari on January 25th of 2003. My knowledge of Punjabi language is near nonexistent and my knowledge of the Guru Granth Sahib is only a smidgen better. However, my experience both in technology and with many religions combined with my wife's yearning for the truth in spirituality has brought forth a perspective not often witnessed in the Sikh community. I recognize this fact and how unusual it might be to have this article appear on SikhSpectrum.com. Believe me, when approached by my wife about writing for SikhSpectrum.com with only published technical writing under my belt, my first reaction was of uncertainty and skepticism.

However, SikhSpectrum.com is a shining example of how technology can promote religion in a positive light and this direction will only continue in order to make our lives more informed and at the same time more convenient. Technology will bring us the truth if we harness it correctly; otherwise, it shall engulf us in a wave of inundation. It is our moral responsibility to use technology to promote to word of the Khalsa; otherwise, it will slowly be lost in the constant din of constant noise and digital cacophony.

Wide Awake in America Today

Today, technology has immersed the daily life of most Americans. Over 100 million Americans over the age of twelve (roughly 44%) have used Internet broadcasts in audio and/or video format. Also, access to the Internet now reaches over 75% of people over the age of twelve. Internet penetration is highest among teens at 93% and 18- to 24-year-olds at 88%. These can be viewed as startling statistics and a tremendous medium to promote the message of the gurus to not just devout Sikhs, but also to the youth and to new people, who are less informed or even unaware of the Sikh faith.

For instance, my wife, Yogi Kaur, was frustrated with certain facets of other religions, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'i Faith, Suma Ching Hai's Quan Yin, Satya Sai Baba and naturally, the many denominations of Christianity. One of the primary aspects of her disappointment was the treatment of women in the religions was less than equal. Although the Baha'i Faith and Suma Ching Hai's Quan Yin message promoted the equality of women, there was still something lacking for my wife. Frustrated, she went to technology to help her out. Using technology to find religion? Yes. She searched on the Internet for "equality of women in Religion". Through that search in google.com, my wife found http://www.sikhwomen.com and the words of Guru Nanak in May of 2002 and our destiny with Sikhism has flourished ever since. Technology was used in order to find truth. Marriage it seems is possible.

The Internet brings the idea of information access "anytime, anywhere". A Sikh could be home sitting only in katchera and search for enlightenment on certain historical aspects of the Sikh faith. A young Sikh boy may use the Internet to show his non-Sikh friends all about the Sikh faith and help remove the current American hatred and persecution directed towards Sikh children in public schools today. Non-Sikhs may discover and learn about the Sikh Faith through webinars and webcasts intent and educating the masses of our religion. Remember, through the elimination of ignorance shall the truth be revealed. However, we must be the bringers and bearers of the truth; otherwise, the truth shall be lost.

The Wheels of Progress Roll On

Communication continues to advance and the Internet in its current form shall not stand still, especially in what is called "multimedia". Multimedia is the delivery of audio and video through digital technology. Right now, music and video on the Internet is growing in the delivery form and volume. However, it is still isolated to the Internet in many ways. This is now increasing for the following reasons:

1. Improved framework or "backbone" of the Internet.

2. Increased delivery channels for Internet content.

3. New products released supporting these improvements and increases.

The framework is the infrastructure or foundation in which the Internet is built. Consider the old Al Gore catchy name of "the Information Superhighway". If the Internet were analogous to an automobile highway, then the framework would be the roads, highways and freeways. Without paved roads and highways built for high-speed traffic, the transportation of data would be very slow and therefore, highly limited. For instance, a Gurudwara wishes to present a visual introduction of the Sikh faith over the Internet, the pace of the visual presentation would be extremely slow to be shown as a video or movie without the supporting infrastructure. Instead it would be a choppy set of still screens with sound coming in fragments. Clearly, this would not be as an effective method of presentation as a video on television.

The Framework

The framework is constantly growing and improving within America and throughout the entire world. Today, we are truly becoming a "wired world". The traditional wire framework connecting to high speed fiber optic data lines like the body's circulatory system are now approaching the maturity of the telephone system - Established and for the most part, consistent and reliable. In addition, other frameworks such as wireless, Wi-Fi, infrared, satellite and cable are growing at the same time.

The term "wireless" is in vogue with today's world of technology. The sleek appeal of being able to communicate from anywhere at anytime is truly unified with wireless technology. Across the world, cellular phones, the first modern public example of wireless technology has become ubiquitous. Wireless phones continue to evolve, today appearing more like miniature computers, with access to the Internet using WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), digital music, image sharing and even simple games. This is the current "fourth generation" of wireless products that are being seen with PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) such as the Palm Pilot, Mindspring, iPac and the Pocket PC. These products can help a Sikh or anyone that has schedules bring more organization and productivity.

Wireless networking is yet one more step forward in technology. Wireless networks remove the dependency of cables; retains the same relative transmission speed and is comparable in cost. This provides the user convenience and mobility. Many variations of wireless networks are available now in the market.

Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, is also about mobility, but expanding beyond just the cellular phone. Wi-Fi is still a relatively new technology that has just recently in the past few years been gaining public acceptance and adoption. Wi-Fi uses radio technologies called IEEE 802.11a or IEEE 802.11b that operates in a very high bandwidth compared to existing frameworks.

The general message here is that Wi-Fi is a mobile radio connection that is very FAST. Wi-Fi is present mainly in laptop computers right now, but expect it to be expanded in the future as the adoption rate continues to increase.

Another infrastructure is infrared, but unfortunately infrared is restricted to "line of sight". In others words, for two systems to communicate with each other, they must be in a clear path without obstructions to "see" each other. Also, the distance for infrared to be effective is very small. Satellite communications are also popular, especially for access in remote places, television broadcasting and expanded radio broadcasting. However, due to the costs and speed of satellite communication, it has not gained much progress in becoming a pioneer in advanced communications.

Cable services, utilizing the cable network, previously focused only on delivering expanded television services to the general public. Since this is an established national network in America, the cable companies have expanded their services to provide Internet access through their coaxial cable connections. The cable network is established, fairly reliable (nearly as reliable as your cable television, which may or may not tout much), fast and always connected. With these emerging technologies, televised Sikh programs such as Ankhila Punjab can be delivered to audiences in North America and all over the world. Of course, this would in turn need support from our Sikh organizations to deliver our message over modern technology.

Delivery Channels

The delivery methods over that framework have also been evolving. Consider the delivery methods the "vehicle" in which the Internet is delivered to you. For our road analogy, this is the automobile that we drive. The average and peak speed of the automobile (along with the permitted "speed limits") has increased over the past several years. When speaking about the average and peak speed of data delivery over the Internet, it is called "bandwidth". Current popular delivery channels include broadband, leased lines, VoIP and the traditional phone system, often called "dial up" services.

The current darling of data delivery from the Internet is broadband. It consists of two main variations: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Cable. Right now, both delivery channels are in direct competition. They both provide relatively the same bandwidth, are similar in pricing and similar in installation, dependability and support. As of the beginning of 2003, over 18% of all Americans now have broadband access. This is nearly a 300 percent increase within just two years.

My family has been using broadband since 1999. Broadband can support playing music and even condensed movies (not the full screen and/or with detailed resolution) seemingly without interruption. Broadband at home has resulted in the increase of webinars and streaming technology such as digital songs and movies. For instance, my wife plays the Japji and other Banis for prayer from the Internet every day; whereas five years ago, the availability to access this was very limited and ten years ago nearly nonexistent. She has also found numerous English translations and read much of the Sikh community news and webinars online for us to stay informed of our current global situation. However, broadband has also resulted in the increase of P2P (Peer-to-Peer) technology such as Napster, which has been under constant litigation and scrutiny from the music and movie associations of America. Napster is a medium where users share their personal content, similar to recording music or videos from each other, but far quicker and more convenient without physical boundaries over the Internet.

Leased lines are the established high-speed digital networks used primarily in business. These originated from digital networks created by our phone companies. Very high speeds with T1, T3 and T4 digital lines can be obtained, but only at extremely high costs. There are some places that have brought full and fractional T1 services to the non-business public, which is often called frame relay services, but this technology has not gained that much acceptance except in business.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or more commonly heard as "Voice over IP", is a communications protocol or standard that allows for all voice conversation to be made digitally over the Internet. Since the Internet has an infrastructure that is not controlled by the large multinational phone companies, the costs for using VoIP are far less. However, the drawback is with reliability. The phone companies have done an amazing job to keep your phone available at all times. VoIP has experienced "growing pains" with blackouts and interruptions, but have been improving tremendously over the past few years. Still, variants of VoIP with Microsoft's NetMeeting, WebEx presentations and web phones have brought a cheap alternative to communicating with people in real time. Video conferencing is the business extension to this and will continue to grow in order to decrease costs while preserving efficiency.

The oldest form of delivery channels is via the modem through what is called "dial-up" services. This service provides slow access delivery, even at the peak speed and is unsuitable for most streaming products. Many cell phones today have the same or even superior access speeds. However, dial-up services are still the most common, but this will decrease as newer technologies continue to replace it. Dial-up services are becoming a thing of the past, like the typewriter.

The End Products

Although the framework and delivery might be interesting to those people who enjoy the details of the engineering theories in a "Star Trek" episode, the majority of the population is interested in the end results. To continue the car analogy, most people just wish to arrive to their destination quickly, rather than the details of how the roads were built. As Sikhs, we should be aware of these new methods of communication so it doesn't pass us by. Our religion must evolve as our world evolves and it's a constant, never-ending process.

For multimedia delivery, the latest technology centers on MP3 players, Peer-to-peer sharing systems, readable/writeable DVD players and digital delivery of audio and video through the Internet. New companies such as, Movielink, Atom films and BMW films offer movies downloaded from the Internet in a streaming media format for prices similar to Blockbuster. Netflix (http://www.netflix.com) now has over one million customers renting DVD's from their website delivered in directly to a subscriber's home by mail. Websites such as Kazaa and Morpheus have emerged like a Phoenix from the ashes of Napster to allow open sharing and copying of audio and video material directly via the Internet.

Today, we see the success of existing products such as Apple's iPod for MP3 players expanding to the next logical conclusion: pictures and movies. These new mobile products are called Portable Media Players or PMPs for short and have strong research and development charges from Microsoft, Samsung, Sanyo, iRiver and more. These products allow for the personal storage of not only music, but also for digital photographs and digital movies. Companies such as Archos already have mobile products in the market supporting this emerging market. However, as with all new releases, they are limited in technical capacity - showing only on small screens, having delayed or clipped pictures and limited in storage length to only a few hours or less.

Digital Convergence Explained

It doesn't take much of a clairvoyant to predict that products such as PMPs and wireless phones shall one day be able to play music and movies with a quality that shall amaze many. This is a basic concept of digital convergence. Essentially, digital convergence is the "coming together" of multiple technologies into one form. Imagine one product that is your computer, your television, your DVD or video player, your stereo system and your phone in one place. However, it's not just having Real Video, Real Audio, MeetingPlace and Net2Phone on your computer. Factors of mobility take into account. Very few would wish to have only one location for all these technologies. Do you watch television at the same place you speak on the phone? Not all the time. Would you be satisfied with a phone that uses a microphone and speakers for talking and listening? Many people would say no.

The benefits of digital convergence are tremendous. For instance, providing personalized delivery formats of media content anytime and anywhere provides access to current information from airports, at subway stops, at hotels or even plugged into the car. Many vehicles these days, especially vans provide VCR and DVD players with small televisions built right in. There are drawbacks as well. This includes the loss of a personal player. Per unit, these products range in the hundreds and are simply too valuable for many to lose or carry just anywhere. However, DVD players are available today under $100. These new products will also decrease in price as new generations and revisions are built. At that point, they would be priced like cameras back in the 1980's and 1990's before digital and the "fear of loss" would reduce.

Other drawback is with the over-inundation of technology in the past ten years. Many people are just overly saturated with new technology. Many vacations these days are intentionally "roughing it" without technology. Another product for delivering information appears to be adding insult to injury. However, for the mobile traveler, there are still opportunities that boredom still persists. Even carrying a laptop with a DVD player has its limitations for viewing.

Embracing New Technology

The desire is out there. In our capitalist world, we must recognize that if there is a demand, businesses will create products to meet that demand. New technology is the tool. We should utilize these tools to promote the words of the gurus. Through these tools, our religion can become inclusive rather than exclusive as we invite people from all over the world into the Sikh faith. The Guru Granth Sahib should not be limited only to the invited few, but open to all that come. Let's open the door through technology to bring in new people and grow the future of the faith; not just focus down the dwindling light of the past.

RESOURCES

Ankhila Punjab

Intel

Microsoft Corporation

Netflix

Archos

Movielink


Copyright©2003 Michael Dougherty Singh. About the author