Posts Tagged technology
Technology without a purpose
Posted by The Disgruntled IT Guy in Rants and Raves on September 24, 2010
About two weeks ago I posted a blog entry about our Pilot project with Harrisburg CAT and I ended my blog with the statement “Isn’t technology great when it serves a purpose!!”
Today I wanted to take a moment to revisit this particular topic because today I’m annoyed. And here is why I’m annoyed.
- Far too many technology vendors seem to be trying to sell me everything under the sun simply because its the newest thing out there.
- I’m not told “why” I should have this new shiny… It falls on to my shoulders to determine why I need the new shiny…
- The attitude of many vendors is that I should buy from them right now and they get offended / angry when I don’t buy the item.
- In once case I have had a vendor tell me “this isn’t a free ride” Like I somehow owe them something because they gave me a discount on some previous item and now I need to buy other items on their schedule…not on mine.
Now in all fairness not everybody is doing this. There are some good vendors and advertisers that do a wonderful job of explaining to me why this new shiny is better than the old shiny. I can even honestly say I’ve had a couple vendors tell me that I don’t need the new shiny… The new shiny doesn’t seem to fit with my other widgets. And to those guys my hat is off. I applaud vendors and advertisers that do not sensationalize or hype their product. I pay attention to those guys when they do step up and say “hey you need this” because I know that they aren’t just looking for a fast buck.
The real lesson to be learned here is that technology without a purpose (for me) is technology I’m NOT likely to buy on behalf of the company I work for. Oh and by the way, I’m not going to buy it for my home use either.
As for the good guys doing the right thing… Keep doing it!
Why do I need to sign this? -OR- the paperless office
Posted by The Disgruntled IT Guy in Office Issues, OS Agnostic, Rants and Raves on July 22, 2010
Lets get this out of the way real quick, Why in 2010 are we still using FAX machines? Lets count the steps.
1.Type up digital document
2. Print digital document
3. Sign paper copy
4. Fax paper copy
document got to far side un-readable…
5. Re-fax paper copy
6. Reprint paper copy because fax machine rollers slipped on paper and mangled the paper document and the 2nd attempt to fax the document failed.
7. Fax Paper copy….
Wasn’t that fun.
Now lets look at the pure digital path to enlightenment.
1. Type up digital document
2. Save document as PDF
3. Send document via e-mail.
I know kung-fu
But there is somebody out there that says. “I need my fax rcpt for time of delivery”. E-mail does that. Both delivery rcpt and a read rcpt option are available with most dedicated e-mail clients and some web based systems.
So they return with, I need my document signed. To which I respond with, digital signatures, Or digital signature watermarks, (a jpg copy of your signature placed in document prior to PDF conversion).
Wake up central Pennsylvania, It’s time to move on. The technology is here, its tested, it works. The only problem left is between your keyboard and your chair.
It's time to move on and let our fax machines go.