| ??? 11/26/11 15:46 Read: times |
#184908 - Once again, you've missed the point ... Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Per Westermark said: It's not an intelligence thing. It's attention-span and discipline. They seem to be deficient in both.
Richard Erlacher said:
Yes, I'll give you that. Most of the young people I have interviewed figure that they should have to work for at least a few months before retiring. Unfortunately, not one, not even from among those who hold advanced degrees has been able to demonstrate the ability to read, write, and reach reasonable conclusions, including about his reporting habits or about his obligations to his employer. Just a quick check here. Do you have any specific sign on your door, sending out a message that makes sure all the skilled young people who are able to read (and understand) that sign turn around and walks out before even visiting you? Young people are no less intelligent. So something must go wrong somewhere if you never manage to see them, while I do get into contact with very bright young developers. The desktop I provide has Outlook. It seems it does those things. Further, though I've not used Outlook to maintain a calendar and agenda for me, I've not missed even one insulin injection in the many years I've used it. I would be rude if I wrote "an age thing" here. Because both young and old people do notice that Outlook isn't the only program this world have seen. It isn't even the best program. As a matter of fact, more than one government organisation have published information about the dangers with Outlook. Oddly enough, I've never encountered any problems with Outlook. Of course, I'm not dependent on those functions that it provides. I typically use Outlook Express for email, a wristwatch and my memory for scheduling, and a Rolodex on my desk for phone numbers. I don't require anyone to use Outlook, but it is available for people who need those functions that it provides. And both young and old people have found mobile phones very useful. And found smart phones even more useful.
So it can't be the age that makes you dislike them. Several of my friends have smartphones, and find them amusing. While they're capable of providing useful services, most people use them for entertaining themselves. But the issue here - if Outlook works well for you, you should continue to use it. But that does not mean that it is the only good way to organize the workday. Some people spend all of their life with all information in their heads. Some use huge quantities of postit notes. Some use a very fat organizer. Some make use of smartphones. It would be ridiculous to tell people which methodology that is "the best" for individual persons. That would be like saying "Your favourite food IS ..." Totally ridiculous.
Talking about remembering insuline. You do know that there are special phone applications where the phone calls for medical assistance if the user fails to acknowledge that they have taken their insuline or whatever medicine they might require? There are a number of products available where a wireless sensors measures oxygenation, pulse and other parameters of the user and sends to the phone. And with GPS, the phone can not only warn about a problem but can call for an ambulance complete with positioning. You can find very efficient and skilled professional in lots of areas of the commercial life, who just have this inability to sense time and remember themselves when to take medicine. With a smart phone, they can work full weeks without anyone really noticing anything. Without their phone, their life can be a misery. Or their workmates life can be a misery. There are also people that sometimes gets dizzy. So they are excellent coworkers, but just now and then might accidentally get dizzy and fall. Yes, there are applications for them too. The g-sensor in the phone (yes, smart little computers they are) detects the fall. And detects what happens after the fall. You guessed it - it calls the ambulance if the owner can't prove he/she is ok. I've used insulin for about 15 years and wear a prosthetic leg for over 40 years, yet have managed quite well without (a) causing any problems for others, or (b) enduring any extreme risk to myself. I'm not sure whom you're thinking to help with such functions. My phone has computing capacity corresponding with the fifth or maybe even sixth PC I bought.
It would be a bit naive to think that capacity is there just for people wanting to walk around chatting with their friends or sending them IM or SMS messages all through the day. If I need to, I can even connect a projector and hold a presentation in a conference room. If the conference was unscheduled, I can quickly get the required presentation material to show. Or connect the phone to a 24" monitor together with a BlueTooth keyboard, if I would find that i need to write a massive amount of text. It can run Turbo Pascal, if I want to. It's possible to do SPICE simulations. Or walking around in an organization and do audits. Way easier to audit something with a phone than to carry a laptop computer over your left arm. It's the 24-hour available Outlook. Except that it isn't limited to just the capabilities of Outlook. It's not too far from the Tricorder from the 1960th Star Trek TV series. But in real life. I realize that you might find it so daunting that you don't really want to find out exactly how much it can do for you. It's easier to brush it off as a teenage toy used by the lesser classes. It's probably because it's such an unuseful toy you can find these images on the net: http://www.google.com/search?q=...s&tbm=isch Maybe it's an age thing, but I believe in spending my time doing things that need to be done, and not just exploring things that can be done but aren't necessary. When I worked in the aerospace/defense industry, it was a firing offense to include features in a design that weren't warranted by specified requirements. The work that's been performed in my shop has never required the use of any sort of cellphone, and it certainly hasn't benefitted from the additional noise and time-waste that they've provided. Had you entered my workplace a decade ago, when there were several people working at any one time, you'd have seen people quietly engaged in their work, some, perhaps, with headphones (not those "leaky" earbuds, by means of which they could listen to whatever they desired, little phone chatter, and mostly the clicking of the keyboards. We seldom had to present "pitches" and if it was necessary, that took place at the client's location. While cellphones might be useful and appropriate for many things, they were not appropriate in our work environment. They provide no function not already available in the office, and none of those funcitons are needed away from the office, at least not for work that I require. I have a cellphone, as do my friends and colleagues. Mine stays in the car, because the only really essential function it provides is the ability to call the police when someone who (a) doesn's speak English, and/or (b) has no automobile insurance, runs into my car with his/hers. That's proven sufficient to warrant the 6-10 minutes' time that it burns each month. Oh, yes, I sometimes use it when my wife and I become separated in a big store and I need to find her. While cellphones may prove useful in many people's lives, they're not likely to improve my own very much. That, sir, is my point. These things may be useful implements to you, they're marginally useful toys to me. Where you sit determines what you see. RE |
