10 things that may soon disappear from your office
At my last office, as the recession was strangling life from the building, a new economic reality was taking hold.
Layoffs had happened, sure, and personnel were often the first to go. But other, more discrete sacrifices were being made, too.
For instance, as management was being pressed to trim budget, a big stink was made about the disappearance of water coolers throughout the office.
Certainly, this wasn’t the apocalypse, nor was it even close in consequence to people losing their jobs. Perhaps, though, it was a subtle sign that things are changing in the world’s places of business. Yet what other items will also be going soon?
LinkedIn has answered the call, surveying more than 7,000 professionals from its network to find The Office Tools (And Trends) That Are Disappearing Across The World.
*Bing: The coolest offices on earth
Its list, in top ten form:
1) Tape recorders
2) Fax machines
3) The Rolodex
4) Standard working hours
5) Desk phones
6) Desktop computers
7) Formal business attire
8) The corner office for managers/execs
9) Cubicles
10) USB thumb drives
Some things here are self-explanatory, such as the soon-to-be absence of the Rolodex or fax machine, which may be woefully outdated already.
Yet inside this list is also a further trend, the so-called start-up-izing of the world’s offices.
As cutting edge offices like those of Google and Facebook shape how business is done, perhaps they will also shape how traditional offices operate.
Suddenly, where once it didn’t before, it makes sense that suits aren’t necessary at work, or the CEO can sit at a desk alongside his or her employees.
And cubicles? Say hello to a future that may include offices strictly of open workspaces, all equal and connected together.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Dave | Oct 2, 2021 11:35:54 AM
Really? Fax machines? I know that the trend is to 'think' that some of these techs are outdated, but in practise, we use fax more than email in our office. If you need copies of documents that are unaltered and unalterable, why not fax? Also, the government department we deal with takes faxes, but not emails. And it is faster and easier than scanning, attaching, sending, then have the receiver print it.
Sometimes people have a tendency to call a technology worse or outdated simply because it's older. But imagine if we had invented email first, we'd see faxes as a faster/easier, more updated way to do things.
And texting or emailing vs phoning: if telephone technology were just invented today, all the techies would be pushing it: "You don't even have to type anything in, the machine does it for you!", and "the person on the other end will even be able to recognize your distinct voice!!". THE AMAZING NEW TECHNOLOGY OF THE PHONE!!!
Our society definately has a weakness in that we assume that newer techs always mean better techs; but sometimes techies are just trying to make money by selling us something new.
Posted by: 2006 called they want their fax machine back | Oct 2, 2021 1:29:39 PM
Really...you work for the government, no wonder. No one uses the fax machine anymore, you can send documents via email, crazy huh? So the government is keeping the paper companies in business. Get with the times dude, your comments are outdated by at least 5 years.
Posted by: Jeff | Oct 2, 2021 3:50:42 PM
The dumbest technology ever invented has to be the phone and I can't wait until they disappear entirly. Text and email is far faster and innefficient. The fatal flaw with the telephone is voice mail, hold and telephone tag. personally, in business I try to not do business with anyone still using a phone
Posted by: Brian | Oct 2, 2021 4:41:39 PM
At last the fax machine is on it's way out. Today, I only hear of them being used at the welfare office to send off resumes. Other than that, many businesses I know of made sure to off their machines into the nearest SA charity box. It's good to see the USB drive falling into disuse as well, considering the startling theft rate of those little buggers. But my greatest joy is seeing cubicles going the way of the VCR. An open work environment... never thought I'd see the day.
Posted by: Eaufemme | Oct 2, 2021 6:34:16 PM
huh, open work environment ... how will the noise levels be controlled when people insist on using speaker phone, what about people (ADHD) who at least a cubicle panel to control distractions.
As for phones I would be happy to never have to answer one again or work as a receptionist again. Maybe we could start a movement for: SAY NO TO THE PHONE sort of like say No To Drugs wonder how successful it would be?
Posted by: Albert | Oct 2, 2021 6:53:58 PM
Give me the fax machine over e-mail any time. I prefer receiving printed copies any time of the day. I have better ways to spend my time then printing e-mails attachments or e-mails
Posted by: Troy Jollimore | Oct 2, 2021 10:04:20 PM
@Jeff, doesn't sound like you're worth doing business WITH if you're that prejudiced. How are text and Email 'faster' than a real-time voice conversation? Their only advantage is that you have an automatic record that you can refer back to later. As for telephone tag, a quick 'Call me!' text or Email should suffice. ;)
When you talk to a lot of 'professionals', you'll hear of a LOT of technologies 'disappearing'. In the 'real world', a lot of people are either not 'tech savvy' enough, or more likely just have too much on their plate to bother learning the intricacies of 'new' tech, to bother with it. A lot of people I know love the 'simplicity' of fax versus direct scan-to-Email. They're slowly moving that way, but fax is something they're comfortable with.
Besides, the whole idea of Email is so you don't HAVE to print anything on the other end...
Posted by: kolp | Oct 6, 2021 1:21:32 AM
@Troy Jollimore, you're 'using' too 'many' quotation marks so it has 'lost' its effect
Posted by: John C. | Oct 6, 2021 5:15:56 AM
I think technology is great except for the fact its abused and over used. It has become the greatest enemy of the socialization of people. People now hide behind electronic firewalls and avoid human contact. In the city at an office I do business with I watched while I was waiting two employees using their computers to communicate to each other sitting at desks beside each other. The greatest contributer to this de socialization is the cell phone/smart phone ipad and other similar devices. I have seen people sitting beside each other texting when a simple turn of the head and vocal communication would have been far easier. If this continues there will be a real disconnect in society.
Posted by: neon | Oct 6, 2021 10:55:59 AM
Agree with some of the posters here that just because there are newer technologies does not necessarily mean they better. Many times I have participated in email conversations that spanned several days, when a simple phone call would have taken less than 5 minutes to be completed. Email is good for reaching people who are not sitting at their desk waiting for the phone to ring, but because you cannot not have real-time dialogue, it significantly increases the time it takes to complete a conversation. The poster who said he avoids speaking to people on the phone makes me laugh. Sounds like someone who likely has an awkward or anti-social personality. If I was trying to do business with him and he would only communicate with me through email, I would likely stop doing business with him. Nothing can beat face to face conversation, and where face to face is not possible, a phone conversation is still the best replacement for that. Fax vs Scan is not a big deal to me as they are basically the same result in that you are transmitting a document from one place to another. Another challenge not discussed is the cost associated with any of these technologies. While a technology may be considered better by some, you also have to consider the cost of implementation. Not all new technologies are cost effective, therefore may not be adopted by some due to cost alone.