Plugging Into Future Chapter Notes | Main Course (Communicative English) Book Class 10 PDF Download

Key Points of the Story

• Many things have changed in the last few decades, making once popular gadgets now seem old and useless.
• Five specific outdated technologies are highlighted: floppy disks, pagers, valve radios, gramophone plates, and TV antennas.
• Floppy disks were used to store data but had very low storage capacity and could get viruses easily. They have been replaced by CDs, DVDs, pen drives, and cloud storage.
• Pagers were popular in the 1990s as a way to send short messages, but they disappeared once mobile phones became affordable for everyone.
• Valve radios required manual tuning and were a common household item that people listened to regularly, often acting as a part of their daily routines.
• Gramophone plates played music by using a needle that touched the grooves on the disk, but they often had funny moments when the needle got stuck and repeated songs.
• TV antennas were important for getting good reception on televisions and showed a person's social status. Setting them up required teamwork between people on the roof and inside the house.
• These technologies illustrate how quickly things can become outdated, showing the fast pace of technological advancement.

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Detailed Summary

Floppy Disks: Floppy disks were once very important for computers. They were small, square pieces of plastic that could hold some information like pictures and documents. You could insert them into a computer to save or share files. The most common floppy disk could hold only 1.44 megabytes of data, which is very little compared to what we have today. 

Pagers: Pagers were very popular in the 1990s. They were small devices that people carried with them to receive short messages. If someone wanted to tell you something, they would send a message to your pager with instructions like “call me” or “I am home.” Pagers were great because they were the first way ordinary people could communicate on the go. 

Valve Radios: Valve radios were popular before we had modern radios. To listen to music or talk shows, you had to turn knobs to find the right station. These radios were big and heavy, so they stayed in one place in the house. Many families would turn on the radio in the morning and leave it on all day, even if no one was listening. 

Gramophone Plates: Gramophones were another way people listened to music. They used round disks called gramophone plates. To play music, you had to place a needle on the disk, which would make sounds come out. People loved to listen to popular singers like Mohd. Raffi and Kishore Kumar on these devices. 

TV Antennas: Finally, we have TV antennas. These were tall devices that people placed on their roofs to get TV signals. Having an antenna was a sign that you had a television, which made many people feel proud. It did not matter if the TV was black and white or colored; having an antenna showed that you were moving up in the world. To get good reception, people had to carefully adjust the antenna while someone inside the house watched the TV to see if the picture was clear. Now, we have satellite dishes and cable TV that make watching shows much easier without the need for antennas.

In conclusion, it is amazing to see how technology has changed so quickly. Gadgets that once seemed so important have disappeared, making way for new inventions that are easier and better to use. Each of these items tells a story of how people lived and communicated in the past. As we move forward, we can only imagine what new gadgets will come next and what old ones will be forgotten.

Theme/ Message

• The main theme of the chapter is the rapid change in technology and how quickly items that were once essential can become obsolete.
• This theme highlights the idea that progress in technology is constant and that new innovations can replace older methods almost overnight.
• The message of the chapter is to appreciate the advancements in technology while also recognizing that what we find useful today might be considered junk in the future.
• It encourages readers to think about how technology shapes our lives and how we adapt to new tools and gadgets over time.

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Difficult Words

• Gizmo: A small gadget or device.
• Utility: Something that is useful or helps to do a task.
• Obsolete: No longer used or needed; something that has been replaced.
• Susceptible: Likely to be influenced or harmed by something.
• Capacity: The maximum amount that something can hold or store.
• Portable: Easy to carry or move around.
• Revolution: A complete turn around a central point, often related to speed (like how fast something spins).
• Status symbol: An item that shows a person’s social position or wealth.
• Reception: The ability to receive television signals clearly.
• Fine-tuning: Making small adjustments to improve something.
• Amusing: Funny or entertaining.
• Mysteriously: In a way that is difficult to understand or explain.
• Graduated: To move up to a higher level or rank.
• Contended: Satisfied or happy with something.
• Infected: Harmed by something unwanted, like a virus in a computer.