Blog / Some Year-end Musings – Technology in today’s office isolates people; it might be time to get out of your chair.
| On the last article of the year, allow me to depart from the usual technology and Cyber-Security news … I can remember the days when the average office cubical had the following technology: desk phone and a calculator. Managers had a multi-line phone and a calculator with a paper tape. As I sit in my office, I see a Smartphone, a digital office phone, a laptop, a docking station, 2 monitors, and Bluetooth headset that connects the phone and the laptop. Oh, and a calculator that sits on the corner of the desk. On an average day, I probably have 5 to 6 hours of screen time; Emails, quotes, reports, and proposals. Most of my colleagues in Account Management have this – or more technology; they type away on their computers much like I do. I suspect many of you are in the same boat. Although you may use Social Media, the impact is the same. And it’s not slowing down. We’re off to CES – the Consumer Electronics Show – in early January. We’ll spend 6 days walking through the show seeing tens-of-thousands of vendors and new products. As in past years, there will be bigger and better products and services with huge WOW factor. I’m sure we’ll have lots to report on after the show. What we see at this show will be common in the workplace 2 or 3 years hence. I expect drones and AI (Artificial Intelligence) to top the list. But it means that our office work of the future will encompass even more technology, which inevitably means less face-time and more screen-time. How long will it be before a drone delivers coffee and donuts to your desk? We are becoming isolated even though we are surrounded by colleagues and friends. At TRINUS, we have 3 bays in a small complex in Stony Plain. If I want to talk to someone in our technical section or store, I have to walk outside. In winter, that may not be pleasant. Or, I can Email them, which I am tempted to do. But I try to stop myself. I need to get out of my chair and walk around. I am especially conscious of making the effort this time of year for 2 reasons; I eat too much Christmas baking – and the holiday season is a time to think of friend-and-family relationships. After all, there is a person on the other end of that Email message. All of our technology promises to make life easier and faster. But it doesn’t always equate to better. It might be time to think about the appropriate use of technology and discard the gadgets and APPs that don’t add to the quality of life. Which leads me to my final thought; our Vision at TRINUS is built around the concept of providing stress-free IT. That usually means reducing the number of system outages, eliminating random error messages, and protecting your information from Cyber attacks. But perhaps we need to be conscious about delivering appropriate levels of technology and encouraging personal interactions within our client’s organization. But if drones start delivering shortbread cookies to my desk, I am in big trouble! Merry Christmas. Dave White TRINUS stress-free IT trinustech.com |
