SpawnPoint - Where Game Begins

I have been working in the I.T. industry for 16 or 17 years. I started in a help desk position when it was still glamorous and exiting to 'know' things about computers that others didn’t. It was a time when computers and computer networks where new, interesting and mysterious. People treated their information assets as tools; they where there to help with their work and improve their communication with others while increase their productivity, all along allowing for information sharing. This was the golden age of information technology and I miss it.

Fast forward to 2007:

            People spend more time “entertaining” themselves on their computers then they do watching TV. Computers are no longer productivity enhancers but hurters. When my computer is not working I can’t get anything done! It’s useless; I might as well go home. I can’t do my JOB! It’s always the technicians fault when things don’t work, but today if your computer is “to slow” or not connected to the internet for those 10 minutes you have between flights at the airport it’s a tragedy. It’s a shame. Its “useless”.

Everyone is now connected 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. There is no more “after hours”. You can blame people like me for that. I was the one showing companies how to do it. How to keep everyone connected at all times, work remotely read and respond to email from anywhere in the world! –My bad- Now, Employers expect you to read and respond to email in the evening and weekends. God for bid you don’t read your email on the weekend. You’re a week behind by Monday.

Everywhere I go there is still a phone on people’s desk. Why is it then, when email isn’t working for any reason, (there kid downloaded the seven sins of Sinbad to the laptop last night and it contained a backdoor Trojan that joined them to a botnet and is sending a million spam emails a second out through the company network) its is such a travesty?

What happened to compassion and understanding that technology is just that, technology. It will break, stop working, and you won’t understand why. Everyone can survive without a few hours of email or web surfing.

Few I feel better now.