#7 Technology

Technology - the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good: Heaps of stuff - medicine, communications, even the remote control for the television. Being able to see pictures of my nephew just hours after he was born even though he lives 8 hours away. Computers are everywhere, and in everything. People are slow to adapt to new technologies sometimes, but we can't avoid it. The younger staff members doing this Web2.0 training are embracing it and having a ball - some of us older ones are finding it a bit challenging but exciting, working out how this new stuff will apply to our workplaces.
The bad: The sheer frustration of not being able to reach another real person on the other end of a phone call. Having had problems lately with telephone and internet connections, and experiencing the mechanical voice at the other end of the line endlessley repeating "please hold, your call is important to us" brings endless curses from my end of the line. Just let me talk to a real person!!
Also, central locking on the car, when you unload your groceries into the boot of the car, close the boot and realise that your handbag, with keys, is sitting just inside.
The Ugly: my responses after 20 minutes of "please hold, your call is important to us" And customers who insisit on answering their mobile phones while you are checking out their books.

The best thing about technology? Without it we would still be riding horses, writing on slates with chalk and relying on carrier pigeon for communications. Worse still, in libraries we would still be using Reverse Brown for circulation, and having to file endless amounts of catalogue cards.
God Bless Technology.