Telecommuting Troubles

As technological advances have made our society more mobile and connected, we are being driven into an age of telecommuting.  Telecommuting, a term coined by a rocket science at NASA in the seventies, basically means working from home.

Our ability to use technology to communicate in different ways, with different people, and across different mediums has allowed jobs to be taken from the office to the bedroom.  It is strange to think that only forty years ago, working from home wasn't even a common option when choosing a career. And today, most of my friends parents work out of their home offices or at least complete some of their work in a home setting.

The telephone made instant communication possible.  The internet made information more accessible and in-office tasks portable.  And then innovations like Skype and group messaging lead to video conference calls and the ability to communicate with an entire team of staff all the way across the globe.

These tools have sparked an age of telecommuting, which I believe can have both positive and negative implications for companies, individuals, and our world as whole.  

One of the benefits of telecommuting is not having to physically commute to a workplace.  Not only is this convenient for an employee, but it reduces traffic congestion and environmental impact.  Also, a company does not have to limit its hiring process to individuals who live or would live in the area, and employees do not have to move for their career.

Although telecommuting saves time, employee energy, and the environment, telecommuting presents major setbacks for the company that has distributed staff members.  It eliminates the real face-to-face connections that exist in a normal work environment and limits the team-centered atmosphere of a workplace.  

My own experiences with working in an office have revealed the value of working side-by-side with the entire staff.  I work for a wealth management firm, and communication technologies are used in pretty much everything that we do.  Whether its calling clients, distributing an electronic newsletter, emailing home office, or having an appointment with a client over Skype, communication technology is involved in almost every task.

With that said, it would definitely be easy for anyone in the office to work right from home.  But.. being in the same building as everyone else, you see how the team atmosphere is a breeding ground for learning from one another and developing new ideas.  

My favorite part of the week is our Monday team meetings. We come together on Monday afternoons to talk about updates and goals for the week.  Sure, we could have the meeting over Skype, but there is something about having real, face-to-face interactions with all of the staff that adds value to the experience.  I think this mashable article puts it best when describing being in the same room as your co-workers- "you can see facial expressions, you can feel energy in a room."

I think that if telecommuting becomes a reality for most careers and we begin to rely on video conference calls and email as our sole forms of interaction, we will weaken our capability to communicate with others and truly work with a team.  Think of all of the invaluable ideas that have resulted from those "water cooler" conversations that take place in the office.  

While communication technologies have definitely added value to the workplace, they are not a substitution for real-life communication with co-workers.

"On the other hand, consider serendipity. If you put dozens or thousands of creative people under one roof, a few might connect and create something that they wouldn't have thought of if they stayed home in their pajamas." - check out a full article about Mashable's thoughts

Finding the Good in Glass

I think that Clare made an interesting point of focusing on the positive effects of adopting Google Glass in society.  We tend to focus on the unfamiliarity of the device and its use in everyday silly tasks.  We forget what innovations like Google Glass and virtual reality can mean for education, healthcare, and even happiness.

Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas is proof that good can come from Glass. The hospital is using the wearables to give young patients the opportunity to take virtual tours of the Houston zoo.  Facetiming with a real zookeeper, they get a full tour of the zoo and get to interact and speak with the keeper about the animals and the facility.

Seeing the smile on the little boy's face in the video was enough to turn me into a Glass supporter.  New technology, like Google Glass or Facebook's Oculus Rift,  can allow patients to temporarily escape from the everyday walls of the hospital.  They could go to a petting zoo, explore a tropical island, or ride a roller coaster, all from the comfort of their own bed.

Virtual reality devices and wearables will surely dominate the future of technology.  It is important that we consider how we can use these new innovations to better society. When you consider their educational value, the temporary escape that they provide, and the excitement on the young patient's face, it seems silly to protest the glasses simply because they are unfamiliar or appear intrusive.

The Internet & Religion

The Internet has not only changed the way we access information and complete tasks, but it has changed the way we think and interact. It has impacted all aspects of society and contemporary culture, but until I read a recent CNN blogpost, I never thought about how it influences religion.

The article explores a number of statistics that suggest a correlation between internet use and religious 'unaffiliation.'  For example, with the rise of the Internet, the number of first year-college students who are unaffiliated has increased from only eight percent to twenty-five percent since 1985.  

Allen Downey, who completed the study, does acknowledge that other factors could have created this difference, but still claims that a correlation between internet use and religious unaffiliation definitely exists.  I believe that there are way too many other underlying factors in internet use to prove such a relationship.  For example, in general, those who have better access to the internet are usually financially and/or educationally superior to those who do not use the internet as often. 

However, I do agree with Downey when he says that the Internet "opens up new ways of thinking to those living in homogeneous environments" and "allows those with doubts to find like-minded individuals around the world."  It provides easier opportunities for those to explore ideas outside of their up-bringing and affirm their beliefs through connecting with other people and info.

I also agree with Cheryl Casey, another person familiar with the topic, that technology leads to "massive cultural change" in "how God, or the ultimate, is thought of and spoken about."  

I do not think that the Internet is "killing religion" or causing the spike in number of people who do not affiliate with a specific religion.  Instead, the Internet, like any communication and information technology, is simply changing society, and therefore the culture and religion that surrounds it.

As the world progresses, society changes.  The Internet is making these changes easier, quicker, and more widespread.  It breaks down barriers to communication and knowledge, allowing people to access new information and other individuals that they wouldn't have before, to make decisions about what they believe.  

Also, when describing the internet as "killing" religion, it is easy to overlook the benefits and tools that the Internet provides for religion.  Take Christianity.. One of its main goals is to reach people and share its message with others.  The flattened world of the Internet era aids in connecting people and allowing them to share the message of Christianity to those who they may have not been able to reach before.

Andrew Brown, of the Guardian, believes that the Internet and irreligion go hand in hand mainly because "every hour you spend online is an hour spent not doing other things"- in this case, practicing religion.  But for me, the Internet has opened up doors for me to explore my own religious beliefs, seek out individuals who share my religious opinions, and practice my religion in new ways... live online sermons from my church in Wilmington and my hillsong pandora station are just two examples.

Religion isn't endangered- it's just changing.

Covering Up to Open Up

If you haven't watched the new advertising video campaign for Dermablend's beauty products, I suggest you watch both of the videos above.  The "camo confessions"  of the two women are inspiring and bring a new perspective to beauty.

As a whole, our society is consumed with physical appearances and beauty itself.  Societal perceptions of perfection are rampant in both the media and advertising.  We stigmatize this obsession with beauty as being shallow, fake, vain, etc.  We often focus on the negatives of appearance-altering mechanisms, like make-up, and we ignore the potential benefits of these products.

Dermablend turns society's perception of makeup and beauty on itself by focusing on how make-up allows you to be yourself, rather than actually altering who you really are.  Dermablend suggests that instead of covering them up, there are some instances where makeup allows individuals to reveal themselves.

Mashable comments that "the high performance cosmetic brand isn't here to make you beautiful, but rather, you are beautiful."  Through these "camo confessions" of two women, Dermablend sends the message of how "cosmetic lines helps them feel more comfortable with themselves."

The two videos show women with skin conditions that often draw the attention of others.  They serve as a distraction from the individual's actual personality, and by covering up these conditions, they can drive others' attention away from their physical appearance and allow them to see past it.  

This is an interesting argument for a makeup brand to make, and I think it is genius.  It's easy to justify the benefits of beauty products that alter someone's physical appearance when you hear the touching testimonies of these people, who's appearances affect their everyday interactions and relationships.  

While I think that there are a lot of negatives that come with altering our appearance, it is important to consider situations where it has positively impacted people's everyday lives.  Go Dermablend for sending such an empowering message to those who struggle with similar situations!

The Future of.... Jeans?

Now that we are constantly attached to technology, and more specifically our cell phones, people have started to consider the implications of this in other areas of our life- our health, our thought-processes, our relationships.  But one area that I hadn't really considered was our clothing.

Then... I stumbled upon an article about a fairly new pair of jeans that are specially designed to protect iPhone users and their iPhones.  WTFJeans include many features, like a specially lined pocket that is specifically fit for any type of iPhone and cleans your phone screen when you slide it out of your pocket.  The jeans are also water-resistant, and some styles include sections that block radiation.

My initial thought was that the jeans were pretty cool- I especially liked the pocket-cleaning feature.  But after reading the full article on the WTFJeans, all I could think was WTF...

To begin, the jeans come at a steep price of $157 dollars.  This amount of money is almost more than it is to just buy a new iPhone.  I think that maybe a cheaper pocket insert would be more plausible for the future of tech-protective clothing.  

Also, I do not think there is a valid argument to justify the necessity of owning a pair of the pricey pants.  For one, the water-resistant feature seems completely useless, because you don't ever really hear of people causing water damage to their phones when they were in their pocket.  Usually water damage results from dropping it in a body of water or the classic toilet drop.

In addition, there really is no way to protect against the most prevalent forms of iPhone damage- cracking the screen, losing it, and software malfunctions.  And while the radiation-blocking plate is a good idea in theory, we still do not know the full effects of technology radiation on our health- is this even a serious problem?

Overall, I think it is sad that concepts like WTFJeans are even considered in society today.  If we really have to design our clothes to cater to our technology and communication devices, then maybe we really have over-incorporated tech in our daily lives.  I'll save my $157 for something a bit more useful.

My Take on Nicole's Observations

In her most recent blogpost, Nicole presents an interesting point about media disruption in our lives today and how it has affected our ability to think.  She says that she cannot simply sit and think about things, because she "gets bored in seconds."  And she claims that this is a result of our comfort in "constant stimulation that fills our mind with meaningless chatter."  

Nicole's personal story really resonated with me when I thought about the last time that I have taken a moment to just sit and think, without the presence of technology.  This is a rare occurrence for me, but I do not necessarily think that it's because I would get bored easily or that I have a constant instinct to check my phone.

For me, I don't normally get an itching desire to check my phone at all times.  I would love to be able to sit in my car and listen to classical tunes, like her grandfather, but I simply do not have time.  Especially as a student, I feel pressure to spend every free moment that I have working on something productive.

I'm not necessarily saying that this a good thing- in fact, often times it leaves me stressed and burnt out.  But it is simply a result of our fast-paced society.  And although we may need to disconnect sometimes, I think technology has actually helped in making fast-paced life more bearable.

Take today for example... It's a beautiful seventy degree Saturday afternoon, but there's one problem. I have an endless amount of homework to try to complete by Monday.  I would love to relax outside and bask in the sun, but political science papers and journalism blogs are pulling me in another direction.

The solution:  I packed my book bag, set up camp outside of Caribou, whipped out my laptop, and have been able to enjoy the weather and company of others, while still completing my tasks for the day.

Technology has allowed me to bring leisure to my work.  Without my tech devices, I may previously have been confined to the library or a computer lab and missed the opportunity for some quality Vitamin D.  

Also, I do not think it is fair to blame technology for our inability to have long and undistracted thought.  Society's perceptions of productivity and free time are the main culprit of our constant need to be connected.  Fast-paced society limits me in having a few moments to myself to lay in the grass and people watch for an hour, but technology allows me to still enjoy moments that I may have previously missed.

Although our fast-paced lifestyle is to blame, I agree with Nicole in that, "it would be relaxing and enlightening to turn my brain and phone off for a while and to just think and absorb."  Every once in a while, we need to slow-down and enjoy the peace and bliss of doing nothing. 

The Past & the Future of Email

In my JOMC 240 class, we are constantly reminded that we live in an age of disruption.  Disruption is a part of history that has closed doors on 'old' forms of media and communication, while opening doors for new ones.  But in today's world, disruption happens more frequently than ever.  Take newspapers, Myspace, Vine, and even FlappyBird.  But after my typical Wednesday of cell-phoneless work for five hours, I checked my phone to see EIGHTEEN EMAILS.  And my only thought, why hasn't Email been disrupted yet?

Although Email is still relatively new in comparison with the newspaper and television, it seems that it has stuck around for far too long.  I've known about the concept of Email since I learned about computers for the first time, and the communication tool hasn't seemed to change very much since then.  One would think that texting would've endangered email, or social media messaging, or anything... come on.

But nope, it's still around.  Annoying, inconvenient, and constantly prodding with me every buzz of my phone that comes with a new message.  And for me, the worst part of Email is having access to it on my phone.  As I've switched to mobile, I like to be able to read my email, but I pretty much refuse to respond to a message until I am on my lap top.  So I'm constantly reminded of the overload of email messages that I need to respond to, without being able to do anything about them.

After searching for some support on my frustration, I found an article from HootSuite with a title that seemed to fit my attitude quite perfectly- "You Can't Kill Email, So Here's How to Keep it From Killing You."  It was written with little tips for frequent Emailers to "take back their inbox."  Less interested in the advice, I found some interesting facts about why Email may be important and refuses to die.

To begin, it interestingly claims that the idea of Email came before the idea of the Internet itself.  Then it goes on to suggest that the power behind Email today comes from the fact that it is secure, can be searchable, has its own infrastructure, and allows for one-to-one communication.  All of these made for good points of why Email is still alive and well, but I surely think that something has to change with the system soon.  Perhaps instead of letting it become such a nuisance that we end up "killing it," we could make the future of Email awesome.  And I found a Mashable article that claims awesome Email is a plausible future.

Mashable predicts that a wind of change is upon the "Internet's most boring application."  After gathering research from developers, they've made four major predictions about what the future holds for Email - unfortunately it will still be alive and kickin', but with these changes, I might be able to handle it.

1.  Third-Party Applications:  Third-Party Applications will rise that allow us to use our same email systems with new tools, in order to specialize our needs and wants.  So far, most email systems are restrictive in welcoming third-party applications, but Mashable strongly argues that this will have to change, making our Email easier to use and customize according to necessity.

2.  Smarter Input, History, and Management:  Another common prediction for all communication technology- expect robots to be delivering your messages aloud, and Siri to be typing up your responses.

3.  Personalization:  Email systems and the messages themselves will incorporate more "user personality."  While it may work for the interface of the email system, I do not think that having a user profile will really enhance my Email experience... Save it for social media.  However, Mashable's prediction of pre-built templates for messages, differing with who you are communicating with, sound pretty cool.

4. Larger user growth through mobile: ......duh

So, although I may have a love/hate relationship with my Email (mostly hate), it's not going anywhere. In fact, its future seems bright and perhaps even bearable.