Photos

One of the more visited displays at the CeBit '05 Fair in Hannover was the one of SAP, which is the world's leading provider of business software solutions - 'from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and mid-size businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations'.

But many of those stopping by were common people – just like me – and not fancy business people seeking a high-tech solution to their problems. Because what you found here, was more 'down to earth' and definitely the most non-digital segment of an exhibition focusing on computers and IT.

After waiting your turn, you sat down in front of someone of Chinese, Korean or Arabic origin and had your name (or whatever you wanted) written with the signs of their languages. And this was done as a real handicraft with methods used for thousands of years.

Here a young boy gets his name perpetuated in Chinese on rice paper with a brush dipped in Indian ink. It was a joy to see this artist in action and how elegantly he maneuvered the brush and created the different signs by varying the pressure.

Behind them a young woman gets instructions on a Korean keyboard and above all this was a giant screen with changing messages projected. Among them a question of nine-year-old Emily: "Chinese has 55.000 signs. So, does the keyboard have 55.000 keys?"

I found this to be a nice human segment in a digital world!

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