This entry was posted on Friday, January 5th, 2007 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
ARE WE JUST CRAZY WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY?
It’s not that I’m old fashioned and not tech savvy, because I certainly am. I have a new custom built rocket ship for a desk top computer and the latest in a lap top, that connects wirelessly wherever I go. In my home, I have a wireless router that allows me to go anywhere in the house and stay connected with my new lap top. In my home office, I use the latest in a Plantronics wireless headset. I have a multitude of wireless keyboards and mice for the different computers. I can even connect to to the internet with my 65” flat screen TV and I have a cell phone that does it all. I have several of the latest color laser printers.
With regard to a web site, I spent more for my new website than any normal four realtors would ever do on each of their websites combined. I send out a monthly e-newsletter and naturally I’m blogging all the time. I constantly stay in touch with my client database through email. I use an online database manager to handle everything from storage to drip campaigns. I fell as if I’ve done it all rather effectively.
But no matter how much I try to keep up, it seems as though every time I turn around, there is something new and different. A new form of technology that only the most savvy of agents are using we’re told. The latest is the video podcast, being used as a new option to virtual tours, and the claim is that it could well rival the web-based photo tour.
The ‘tech experts’ can tout the latest and greatest and tell us why we must have it to stay ahead of the curve. Sometimes, in my mind, I feel that I’m falling prey to the fact that, no matter how hard I try and how much I spend, the curve will always be ahead of me. Could it be that I’m doing fine with what I have…I tend to think so, and yet there is always the lure that, if you invest again one more time, you will temporarily be one of the few trendsetters. Tempting, but truly worth it?
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2 Responses to “ARE WE JUST CRAZY WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY?”
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July 4th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
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October 21st, 2008 at 7:40 am
“Just how far to the front of the technical leading edge should my business be?” is a very good question. As the owner of a IT consulting firm, this is a subject on which I frequently consult. We often jokingly refer to the absolute front of the leading edge as the “bleeding edge”. Dealing with the quirks, features (OK I mean bugs) in new technology often leaves us frustrated with the vendor. Therefore, long ago I decided that I would never recommend that a client use anything called version 1.0. Why? Errors will inevitably persist through the testing phase of a product. The vendor is actually relying on you, the first purchasers of the software, to do testing for them. They will never admit to that, but releasing a product too soon is a lot cheaper than developing a proper test plan and hiring a staff to do the testing. Usually by the time software has gotten to the testing phase, the budget has run out anyway. So after being cut by the razor’s edge of the bleeding once too often, we now sit back and let the gadget crazy people play with versions 1.0 and 1.1. Then we buy version 1.3 when all the nasty bugs have been shaken out of it. In this way we protect our client’s money and budget.
Since we replace our hardware every three years, and will forever do this, the leading edge of hardware does not have the draw it once did. We let the techincal needs of the client (most often speed and security) drive the hardware purchasing. Storage requirements are not an issue any more. Oh yes but we do like our toys -new phones and digital cameras - but to really make use of the full capabilities of a new device, you have got to attend on line webinars, or sit down and read the on line help undisturbed.
Lately we see that the difficult tasks have become easy and the simple tasks have become difficult. This is true with Windows Vista 64 bit where we are currently on the bleeding edge. We have Object Oriented Programming to thank for that; they don’t call it OOPs for nothing. But in general, for a mission critical need, I will buy the best and invest the resources of time and money in training. For other needs I let the rest of the world bleed first for me.