wasting bandwidth since 1999
As I mentioned in the previous post, we recently spent a “long weekend” in Iceland. It was a wonderful, very busy five days, running around the southwestern part of the island with a small group of curious travelers.
Of course, our trip was just a snapshot of the country. It’s impossible to even begin to understand another place and it’s people in such a short period of time. So this post is simply a collection of basic, possibly clueless, observations.
A few months ago, Time Magazine posted an excerpt from a book by two Google executives explaining “nine insightful rules for emailing… like a professional”. At the top of the list: Respond quickly.
Ok, I’m probably the wrong person to be commenting on someone else’s communication habits,1 especially business types, but has anyone else noticed that many people these days view email more like an instant messaging service than “mail”?
They take that whole “respond quickly” philosophy to heart and expect a reply literally within minutes of their original message. And sometimes send a “did you get my message?” message if the response isn’t what they consider rapid enough.
From several years back, I recall an email etiquette list suggesting a 24-hour turnaround on replies. So is that down to under an hour now?
Remember when stores moved locations it was to the next street over, or another space in the mall?
Today my partner at work dug up from her digital archives a quick reference card we created almost ten years ago to help principals understand and evaluate how technology should be used in their classrooms.
With just a few minor tweaks, it is totally applicable today.
Were we that forward thinking a decade ago or have we just made so little progress in that time?
I’d like to think it’s the former and very much afraid that it’s the later.
First came the system by which travelers could pay to speed through the security lines at airports. Now football fans can do the same at some NFL stadiums.
So, which other lines in the world would you pay to avoid?
Threat Level has some suggestions.
Are you a frequent McDonald’s eater frustrated by infrequent fast-food eaters who hold up the line by not knowing their Value Meal numbers?
A daily Whole Foods shopper who hates those who don’t know how much their ginger-squash soup is per pound?
A regular lottery player frustrated by noobs who dilly-dally over which scratch-off tickets to buy?
A coffee snob annoyed by people who order low-fat mocha freezes at Starbucks?
And the trend goes beyond airports and stadiums.
The Virginia DOT just started building pay-to-drive car pool lanes on two major highways in this area.
I wonder. Just how much do you have to earn to avoid doing anything at all with the common folks?
Probably somewhere north of Obama’s middle class and south of McCain’s.
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