Reference no: EM132181385

Question: Along with the standard terminologies, knowing and understanding the basic uses of common office technology is a must in today's employment environment. In a typical workspace, you will find a computer, phone, and calculator.

If you are a field-based (you work mainly outside of an office), you will likely be tasked to use a laptop (or tablet), SmartPhone, and GPS.

Though this does not sound like much, let's take a deeper look...

Typically your company will only issue you a laptop if they have specialty software (scheduling, accounting, sales, etc.) that you are required to use. The SmartPhone may be used for texting, scheduling, and verbal communication. GPS will be used to get to where you are going. None of these items were common 25 years ago, but today they are so commonplace that many businesses cannot function without them! And this is just the beginning. Think of what the future of technology will bring.

The Future is Now!

• From Intel - AI, automated driving, Data-Driven retail

• The Future of Information

• Human Head Transplants and More

• Corning - New Glass Technologies

Case Study 1: In 1979 I got my first real job in a bakery. Each baker had an egg timer and a stopwatch to keep an eye on the baking bread. I went to college from 1980-1984, obtaining a degree in Business and a minor in Finance. After college, I worked for a real-estate company. My job was to sell raw land to developers, and to find raw land at auctions and foreclosures. My biggest piece of technology was my calculator, which took "D" batteries. I drove with maps, called on rest-stop phones, did a lot of postal mailing. I was on the road 5 days a week, sometimes 6 days a week, many times to hand-deliver contracts. I had to scour newspapers to find foreclosure sales and there was a small weekly newspaper that was typically out-of-date by the time I read it that related to land auctions. I spent more time in courthouses looking up purchase documents than I care to think of.

Today, I own the company I worked for. Each of my employees has a laptop which I replace every 5 years. They also have smart-phones with GPS. They are typically on the road five days a month, and that is typically to give presentations to prospective buyers of commercial real-estate. I have a software program that gives me up-to-the-minute status on foreclosed land, raw land, and developed land, as well as their sales history. I can do many auctions via telephone or internet for raw land. I can say I am much, much more productive today than I was 25 years ago, and I have more time at home with my family. By learning the technologies and the terminologies I have become a wealthy person. I could have never accomplished what I have without understanding technology and the various terminologies and used it to my advantage.

Case Study 2: My first job out of the military in 1993 was a telephone computer salesman. I had a big pile of computer magazines that the company I worked for advertised in, and a dumb terminal that simply gave me the prices of the products, and a telephone. That was the extent of my technology. Buyers would call in, I would reference their ads, and take their orders via credit card. Automatic credit-card processing was a big deal back than. I didn't know much about technology, but I could see the handwriting on the wall.

I was laid off in 2000 when our company migrated to the internet. They needed less than 10% of the sales force once internet sales took over. I went to work for a smaller computer sales company for awhile, and got laid off there too. The internet put them out of business. I went to community college, learned about operating and repairing computers, and got a job at a helpdesk in 2003. I was laid off in 2010 when my job was outsourced. After that I worked as a computer technician at a bank before they outsourced in 2013. Since then I have worked as a car salesman. I'm fast approaching retirement age and concerned for my future.

Knowing now what I wished I had known then, I would have gotten a bachelors degree, maybe a masters degree. I consider myself a technical person, but never really got a chance to move up.

Part 1: Choose 1 case study scenario

Describe.

• Technology advantages

• Technology challenges

• Lessons learned

Part 2: Personal Application

Describe your college and/or career goals. How might you apply content from this course to your current or future process? What are your next steps for technology learning and use?