technology and the office – a good fit?
TRANSCRIPT
Technology and the office – a good fit?
So the iPhone 6 has launched at last and together with the pomp and ceremony of an extravagant launch event we will have the inevitable rush of Apple fans trying to justify throwing away their existing technology in order to pay for the new shiny bit of kit.
Technology didn’t used to be like this. The fax machine took ages to launch, was viewed with suspicion by many and yet still hangs around in offices today even though there is technology to replace it.
Computers, tablets, smart phones seem to be made obsolete every single summer and new ones are released with the same regularity as Hollywood blockbusters and to some extent, enjoy the same publicity.
But is all this technology making things easier for people or is it simply helping work life encroach on our private life?
Technology the enabler
Let’s take the fax machine as a good example. These are bulky items that sit in an office and for decades revolutionised the way we communicate with customers and suppliers. It really was a revelation as it was essentially a remote copier – pop some paper in one end and it would appear at the other end. However, in no way was it “sexy”. Not many people had them at home and they really weren’t a desirable bit of kit.
Some people had them in their home offices, but it was usually because they worked from home sometimes or they managed to purloin one from the despatch office (I knew someone who did that, they didn’t get out much).
Technology was dull, it was utility and it was boring.
Even the first computers were for geeks only and looked like a typewriter merged with a house brick. But they did something quite wonderful, they made life easier for people or increased revenues or made things faster.
Technology enabled the office, the company and the world to grow at an ever growing speed.
Then something really strange happened. Tech became sexy, attractive and desirable.
People wanted to own technology and “gadgets” and this is when consumerism took over.
Mobile phones were probably the first devices that people actually desired as they freed people from the shackles of a wired phone stuck in the office. Suddenly you could work from anywhere and that meant you didn’t have to be in the office on time or you could leave early. Nobody would know.
That’s the optimists view. More time? Yeah, have a mobile phone so you’re not chained to the desk.
Pessimists? Want to be called at any time because there’s a problem in the office? Ah.
The email revolution
Communication got a real boost when email came along and made it possible to send messages to people (or groups of people) really quickly.
You could send a report to someone without having to save it to floppy disk and get the office junior to run upstairs with it.
Then mobile phones started getting emails. Then we started responding to emails all the time and our bosses, being the kind of people they are would insist on emailing us at night so we were prepared for the morning after.
But is it good overall?
Technology has merely enabled us to do things faster, more efficiently and in more exotic places. However you have to ensure you manage your own time better.
As a time management tool it is a huge failure, but as a tool to enablebetter time management, technology is the best it’s ever been.
