Back To The Stone Age?

This past month has been filled with natural disasters that have left many of us crippled without cell phone service, electricity, hot water, and internet. Others have been even less fortunate experiencing floods in their basements and trees falling on their roofs. The things that we have been taking for granted, such as the stable ground under our feet, have been shaken. These tragedies are a true test of our dependence on a modern day lifestyle. Most people can survive a day or two without electricity, but then it gets old. We like to use our microwaves, electric stoves, and refrigerators for food preparation and storage. Many of us have phones that must be blugged in and charged. Some houses only have digital clocks. After a couple days you can only live off of nonperisable food items, there is no longer a simple method of communication with individuals outside your home, and you can't even tell what time it is because you have no clock to refer to. To some of us, these last weeks have felt like going back to the Stone Age.

Now as important as it is to be able to store nonperishable food items and to be able to take a warm shower, what really worried me with these natural disasters was the combination of power outages, cellphone tower damages, and lack of internet access. All of a sudden our technology and basic modes of access to the world were taken away from us. Many businesses cannot function without these staple services. Call centers were down, remote support was down, and simple services such as email were not accessible. Businesses have taken steps towards being able to function during floods or snow storms, yet most of these approaches have made them more dependent on technology. Take telework as an example. This is not possible without access to internet and cellular data networks.

Don't Blame IT

This month I really got into watching a British sitcom called “The IT Crowd.” It's a play on words from the common phrase 'the in crowd.' This show is about the IT department of a large corporation called Reynholm Industries. The main characters are hilarious because of their awkwardness and lack of social skills. A woman is added to their team, which changes the dynamic of the group and adds to drama, confusion, and the department's relationship with the rest of the firm. A large part of the comedy comes from the depiction of the average day of an IT person and the types of problems that they have to fix. Each time they pick up the phone, they ask one question: 'Have you tried turning it off and on again?' This seems silly but often the solution to a frozen system is re-booting it. The following question is always, 'Is it plugged in?' The sitcom implies that the average individual has very few computer and IT skills and most problems could be fixed by simple trouble shooting.

Google+ The New Facebook?

In case you haven't heard, Google came out with a new social media site on June 28^th that is connected to your gmail account and many other google functions. This is the newest in-demand social media site. Google+ has a limited member base as the new site is being tested. There has been a large grassroots marketing campaign from current users since the only way to join at the moment is by invitation. The demand for getting in is huge! Google has doubled the population for the network but they need more time to ensure that Google hard drives can handle the large new project. I had the opportunity to 'get in' when a friend sent me the invitation to Google+ this week. I thought I would explore it and provide some feedback.

What Is Your Brew?

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with a friend that was visiting from out of state. By the time that I got to the register I still didn't know what I wanted to order. Brian, the employee behind the counter, reminded me about the new frappuccino options that the company is now offering. Their tagline is “However You Want It.” This is the new marketing campaign that Starbucks is doing to start off the summer by not only letting you customize the drink with the type of milk, coffee, flavor and light options but also introducing yet another flavor—the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino. The question is, why do I keep coming back to Starbucks? It's not just the fact that I can make a drink that is unique to my whims that day or that there is a new flavor to try each season...

Evolution or Revolution?

Recently I realized how technology has changed the way that we work and in some ways it has changed how we look at technology. How have different innovations made you more efficient? How have they affected work processes? Has technology had an effect on the social structure of your office? Yesterday I had something that I needed to work on and I needed a print-out of the document. I emailed a colleague to ask her to print it out for me and to bring it to our meeting. Why did I send her an email and ask her to print out the document?