Troy Brumley Bio/Archives
25 years in IT operations, customer support, systems software development, applications software development. Currently lead software engineer for Cincom. As a technologist, always tries to remember:
- Technology without a meaningful purpose is a waste of time and money.
- Technology does not solve problems. Technology helps people solve problems.
- Use the lightest and simplest technology available.
Just Enough Technology
Technology should be simple, easy to use, and fit your working style. This is true for both personal and business technology. Unfortunately, individuals and businesses often fail to properly evaluate their needs, and they end up selecting technology for the wrong reasons.
I can illustrate this with a story from my own history with personal technology.
My Experiences with PDAs
Once again ahead of its time, Apple introduced the Newton in 1993. Too big and too expensive, and filling a need that had not been discovered by most people, the Newton was not a market success. Production stopped in 1999. Palm, the company that keeps renaming itself, released its first Palm Pilot in 1996. Smaller and less expensive than the Newton, with a simpler interface, it launched the form factor that most people think of as a PDA.
I’ve owned four PDAs. A Newton (lost in a move), a used Palm III, a new Palm IIIxe, and most recently a Sony Clie. When I bought the Newton, my life and work situations did not lend themselves to PDA usage, and I never did much with it. The two Palm systems were heavily used. I bought the Palm IIIxe when the Palm III started to die.
I purchased the Sony Clie as a "going back to school" gift to myself a couple of years ago. I thought a PDA with color, audio capabilities, and memory expansion would be more useful than the Palm IIIxe.
It wasn’t.
Most of its features went unused, and while I was disappointed to hear that Sony was getting out of the PDA business, it didn’t affect me much. Today, my Clie sits on my desk in its charger, except for those times when I take it out to play a game while listening to the news.
The Newton didn’t fit my needs, the Palm III series was just right, and I overbought when I got the Clie.
I’ve considered getting a replacement for the Clie. I gave the Palm IIIxe to my son; otherwise I might have dusted it off to see if it was more useful, or likely to be used, than the Clie. I’m not willing to spend $100 US for that experiment, especially since I carry a laptop to and from the office.
On my laptop, I use Apple’s iCal program to manage my schedule, with some duplicate entries manually copied back and forth from the office PC’s Outlook calendar. For most day to day items such as to do lists and notes, I have a small spiral notebook. It doesn’t beep or impress anyone as a geek toy, but I use it and it helps me manage my day.
Seeking Simplicity
I’ve joined the ranks of many other technologists who finally admit that more isn’t always better. When my current spiral notebook is full, I may just build my own Hipster PDA, a "Parietal Disgorgement Aid". If I feel a need for something that looks more professional or impressive, I might upgrade to a Moleskine notebook.
If someone comes up with a new reason to use a Palm or Windows CE device in the future, I’d be willing to get one again, but for now, I have just enough technology.
Applying the Lesson
How do you know if you’re using too much technology to solve a problem? Answering the following questions will help you in that evaluation:
- Is it more difficult to do things when using the solution?
- Does running the solution interfere with my business?
- Do I understand the solution? Can I explain its use and value?
- And finally, how much of the solution do I really use? Think about Microsoft Word for a minute. How much of what you do with Word can’t be done with a smaller, lighter, editor such as Wordpad on Windows or Textedit on the Mac?
When considering a technology solution for your business, determine your needs to the best of your ability. Question your objectivity, and that of your technologists. Don’t buy something because it has all the right buzzwords, it’s the latest and greatest, or everyone you know uses it.
Buy the technology you really need to solve your problem.
Posted by TroyBrumley on August 8, 2005 at 02:03 PM in Business Infrastructure | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
