1. The Future of Printing

    Posted on March 20th, 2011 by admin

    When the phrase “paperless office” was coined with the onset of the earliest office software it was a prediction that always seemed to be true yet unrealized. Printers and paper use actually increased with the use of desktop computers as more office workers were responsible for their own documents. The CYA (“Cover your a**”) effect was, in no small part, driving printer use. Where once there were office memos circulated, there was now email that everyone read and printed for themselves. Handouts of electronic presentations and “takeaways” became commonplace as more accessible printers with more resolution and graphics ability littered the cubicle landscape. Finance departments printed reports by the ream. The paper was flowing more because there were more authors and more fear of losing the documents that now popped up on the screen and existed in electronic form and were duplicated in printed form.

    So the forces of self-preservation haven’t lent themselves to letting go of the physical manifestations of electronic data in the form of printed paper. At least, this has been the case up to a point. Slowly the tide of paper printing is starting to ebb as businesses and individuals find cost savings (and more confidence in retaining their data) in electronic applications. As online and off-site backup facilities become more common, there is less concern for preserving everything in printed form. Additionally, the paper transporting materials are being saved (printed envelopes, checks) as electronic transfers of billing and payments are more common. Boxed software and manuals are being replaced by downloads as broadband is accepted as universally available. Newspapers are the most identifiable example of how the electronic information (in the form of online news and Craig’s List use) has usurped the paper delivery.

    Most significant in diminishing the printed form is the “Kindelization” of documents. These e-book formats deliver paperless documents to consumers in a way that mimics the printed form.This has been the promise of electronic paper substitutes for decades, but now it has been gaining popular acceptance through the use of tablet computers and hand held devices with the proper power to be appealing. The Kindle from Amazon, the Nook from Barner and Noble, and the iPad from Apple represent the consumer adoption of paper replacement.

    Businesses will follow the consumer example as data becomes more in-volatile and electronic signatures and non-repudiation schemes gain acceptance. But this is not a small feat. Management is understandably cautious about abandoning paper records. Security breaches, viruses and other malicious intrusions into the workspace can cast doubt on data integrity, and printed snapshots of the data provide comfort that the binary versions cannot. Still, confidence is growing in forsaking printing since storage costs continue to drop and allow electronic snapshots to stand in for the paper. Paper-like portable usage of the data combined with secure transmission and verified documents will reduce printing to a minor activity. Decorative use (banners and signs) will be how printing is employed.

    Typography firms lost their business to desktop publishing and film companies lost theirs to digital camera use. Going forward, the printer manufacturers will be moving to sell much larger output devices as what they produce will not be readily duplicated by the tablet medium. Electronic ink is now in a position to grow quickly, and paper and the industries supporting it must scramble to re-invent themselves or be left in an ever-shrinking market.

  2. Offset Access

    Posted on March 14th, 2011 by admin

    Even the most cautious user can be burned by a web site visit, and the inter-networking that provides application productivity can destroy as well. It is perhaps that the idea of “offset” access that is engineered into Windows servers that shows this most readily. You must disable the default blocking (enhanced security configuration) within IE on a server in order to use it freely. And this provides a warning to server admins that they really would be more advised to “offset” their Internet web browsing with a client rather than a server to be safe. This adds additional steps to adding files like drivers, applications, etc. that aren’t welcome, but a good practice.

  3. Starbucks Remorse?

    Posted on March 7th, 2011 by admin

    Since I have been often drawn to a quick pick-me-up at Starbucks or its equivalent during the workday, there is a startling thought when I am not working. And when I say that, it is not the weekend pause or holidays type of “not working”, but the unemployment state that pops this into bright relief as I reminiscence about Lattes and such. I suddenly make a rough calculation of what I may have spent for the high end coffee drinks that populated my days at the office and suddenly would like the money spent for them all back in my pocket to cushion the blow of another layoff. Regretfully there is no refund for the past indulgent consumption of the these attractive (and vaguely addictive) beverages.

    A better calculation is whether I received appropriate productivity gains for the money spent on coffee while providing my employer his services and he my pay. This is hard to judge in too close a scale, but most likely it transformed duller routine days into better days, and dulled the stress from hectic days with a warm and welcome break. So, I don’t have a deep remorse for my Starbucks habit, just a hope of reacquiring the routine sooner than later.

  4. Hello (Basketball) World!

    Posted on February 23rd, 2011 by admin

    Here is a repeated post from 2 years ago. It now applies more to the smart phone access than desktop, but it is still an issue that IT Managers must address in the U.S. Overseas, Futbol is more of the issue.

    Basketball LinkIs your office inspired by the NCAA basketball tournament? Many are, and this year it is very easy to access the games with free online streaming from CBS or the NCAA. Many offices tolerate pools for betting on this annual tournament, but the cost to the bandwidth of the persons following the games and the bandwidth of the office might be seriously comprised. How real is this threat to productivity?
    The consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas issues the most often quoted estimate, but this has been questioned on several fronts (Slate, Salon). There are few reports of Internet connections grinding to a halt during “March Madness”, but betting, basketball, and the Internet are not a cocktail of unique appeal to the computer end-user. The focus on the NCAA tournament each year is a bit narrow, because there are many existing sources that can sap the bandwidth (e.g. iTunes movie downloads). It really is a larger question of usage and enforcement that will be ongoing throughout the year. The IT policy can be enforced through content or explicit blocking schemes, but these have their own issues (added administration, repeated policy decision per website, false positive blocking or other workflow issues). In the end, policing Internet use should be done as any other distraction might be handled: by proper management oversight. Metrics for productivity should account for those wasting time in any activity while at work whether it is the Internet or too much time at the water cooler. Proper IT policies should be backed by judicious use of load balancing, bandwidth segmentation, and network monitoring. In arenas where the web must be freely searched and utilized by the workers to get their jobs done, their production cannot be judged by the IT department. That oversight is incumbent on HR and upper management.

    [2010 addendum]

    Now that SmartPhones and tablets are more hooked to data from the company’s wireless carriers, care must be taken that streaming these games doesn’t break the budget since even unlimited plans may start charging at over 5 gig per month. Training users to stream while hooked to a Wi-Fi network is one tactic that might help