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IT SPECIAL

Step toward digital Bangladesh

Samiul Islam Rikih
She looked left and right in amazement. Her eyes were shining out of curiosity as she walked through the entrance. She was finally here. A place she always wished to come since the day she saw her abroad-living brother through a box saying,''Hi!"
You've guessed it right. She's is excited about coming to...
The BCS Computer Fair 2008, which is back with a bang. With the theme "Towards Digital Bangladesh" it exhibited its last day today. The fair comprised of 69 different companies who displayed what they believe is the route to an era of modernisation.
This year's exhibition was bigger and better. The entire fair was conducted over the largest and most spacious international standard convention center in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh China Friendship Centre at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar with canopy being set up to facilitate 23 pavilions, different zones and seminars while 76 stalls made the main building their home for the four-day exhibition.
On December 17, after the inaugural ceremony, several techaddicts stormed in to see what their favourite brand and companies had in store for them this time around.
Computer desktops and accessories, printers, scanners and digital cameras, softwares, sound systems and packages of web hosting and development were all displayed at this year's fair. However, the main attraction was notebooks. Almost all the stalls had notebooks of your preference, taste and choice- so you would not be left disappointed.
Displaying their Aspire One notebook as their main attraction, Acer, one of the biggest sponsors and brands, took part this year. But BenQ and Microsoft, the two other major sponsors were not lagging behind. BenQ displayed their exclusive Joybook light and High Defination (HD) technology LCD monitors.
Other brands taking part this year included Apple, Intel, Toshiba, Hitachi, HP, Samsung, Canon, Asus and many more.
Apple, which runs under a completely new and different operating system, participated in this year's fair to enlighten people about “Apple”. They were not dissatisfied as people crowded their stall and showed great interest towards their fresh and innovative desktops, laptops and even ipods.
Another stall owned by Intel, not far away, promoted their Intel Core 2 Extreme processor in a unique way. They set up a gaming zone within their stall, so that you could experience the essence of this hi-tech processor the best way possible- by playing a game of Need for Speed.
Wazed Upal, a student said, "It was brilliant. The sound and pic-
ture quality is simply amazing. Its like you're driving in a race car virtually."
Apart from this in-store gaming, there was also gaming zone organised by BCS.
Along with that, the show organisers have arranged an art competition; taking place today for the young children aged six ten so that they can be enlightened about the world of computers and technology.
These steps out of several were taken by BCS to attract the younger crowd and the response they received was extremely overwhelming. Mustafa Jabbar, President of BCS said, "This year our main target audience was mainly the young children, students and youths. By building a relationship between our younger generation and technology and its advancements, we can achieve our motto of a digital Bangladesh by 2021"
A fresh and modern form of entertainment was also available this year for the first time. The Pexatech MagicSing Karaoke-World's First Bangla Karaoke. It is a system that you can connect to the television and sing away to about 250 bangla songs built in the system. The smiles on peoples' faces after they sung away expressed that it is a fun filling experience where you definitely can have a blast.
Just beside the karaoke zone was the free internet browsing zone that created wonders. However, the availability of Wi-Fi network throughout the fair created all the magic as it allowed you to browse the virtual world through internet, while browsing the fair at the same time.
Speaking of wonders and magic, Jago Bangladesh set up a zone which was quite out of the norm. It was aimed at all the visitors especially the ones who did not have access to the internet, so they could cast their vote and make Cox's Bazar or Sundarban a part of the seven natural wonders of the world. You simply register with them and they take care of the rest. It is really a fine practice as it gives you the opportunity to help your country get worldwide recognition.
The ticket price this year around was also very economical. At only Tk 20, you could take the pleasure in exploring the world of digital technology whereas students got to enjoy this entire exhibition free of cost bringing in a fair number of students from different levels with their friends or as a part ofa school field trip.
Md. Asif Iqbal, Senior Sales Consultant of Acer, said all of them seemed extremely enthusiastic to leam about the latest developments in technology. He said, “Students are showing great interest in modern technology. It's their eagerness that will lead to a more digital country as well as a rise in our sales.”
“Coming to this fair is always a lot of fun. This kind of exhibition makes us aware about the latest advancement in technology,” said Rahul, a student visiting the fair with his friend.
Promotions were a talk of this year's exhibition. The visitors were amazed to see how the prices of a few of their favourites have gone down by a couple of thousand takas forcing them to get their wallets out even though they came here just to have a look around. Not only discounts, places like
Computer Source and even BenQ where giving out a free digital camera with the purchase of a laptop. Doesn't that just make you go, “WOW!” Computer and camera accessories, items of clothing were also being offered as freebies.
At around 5:30pm today, November 21, this eventful exhibi-. tion will bid you adieu. However, it is not going to say goodbye just like that. A line of programs has been scheduled starting with the distribution ofcrests.
The main purpose of this year's
fair was to make the people of Bangladesh aware of the latest • technological developments and its importance. Enhancement in technology is necessary for Bangladesh, as a nation, to grow and be advanced and digital s-that we are able to stand head to head with other hi-tech countries globally. However, how long it takes us to achieve this goal depends on our knowledge, understanding, alertness and our compatibility with the changing world of technolog)’.