One person’s pervasive is another person’s intrusive. So says a survey released today.
In a culture where Gotta have it now over rides all sense of decency, the Pop-tart, Minute Rice, microwave influenced, Fax it, Fed Ex it, oh crap, IM it to me generations all have seen technology become the equalizer for time and distance.
In the old days, I hand delivered press releases because it was faster than the U.S. Mail. I was 14, and my mentor in PR, the late Sy Roseman, would drive, park and I would run in, say hello to security guard who thought I was some kid going to see dad who worked there and then face to face, hand the release to the reporters in Philadelphia who became long term friends and media outlets to me.
Of course we had the fax, but hand delivery was more personal. As time went on faxing took priority, then Business Wire, PR Newswire and others installed terminals inside the newsrooms of media outlets. That became our choice for immediacy. Then along came e-mail, and immediate became e-mmediate. The want it right darn now generation sure had all they needed to never, ever, not get what they wanted now.
Which is why sales professionals always were leary of technology, and why people in executive positions at the record labels all hate digital distribution. It makes them accountable in real time versus when the sale really closes. Thus the crux of all things digital. Balance or results.
If you want balance in the digital age we live in, just turn it off. Let the Voice Mail or email box do the work and forget about it. If you work for someone who requires 24/7 then they better pay you for more than 40 hours and at a enhanced pay grade, but, oh, that’s where stock and options came into play.
The key is knowing how to use the technology to reach someone. I deal with clients, media people, friends. I like to be connected. But when I’m just fried, tired or, “want to be alone, darling” I also know how, with whom and where to turn off. If being connected can let me work in Paris or London, enjoy the food, wine and friendships its allows, while still getting the job done, I’m for it. But being able to turn off is a good thing, and one has to remember that the human in us can still do that. You see while tehcnology has gotten both pervasive and intrusive, we can still “just say, NO.”