For the record

The dictaphone, till recently the reporter’s mainstay for recording interviews and press conferences, is rapidly being replaced by smartphones, tablets and iPads. But several lawmakers are a little hazy on advances in technology. Thus, a Union minister recently did not allow reporters to record his statement on mobile phones though he was okay with traditional recorders. When, however, a tablet was placed before him, he asked what the gadget was. “A tablet,” came the reply and he happily gave the go-ahead for its use as a recorder.