Comments on: A Dumb Idea http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/ Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:58:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: anon http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10170 anon Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:01:03 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10170 But I think that personal computers (today "laptops", tomorrow Dick Tracy wrist computers or Star Trek lapel badges) are in the same situation that phones were a few decades ago. In 1960, employees used hardwired phones provided by their employers. Then, one day in the 1980s, the water-cooler buzz was, "Hey, did you see what JR has? One of those new cell-u-lar-phone things." And ten years later, everyone and their teenage kid had one. Similarly, while today it's controversial to <i>ask</i> all employees to bring their own computer to work, in ten or fifteen years you wouldn't dream of trying to <i>prevent</i> it. Cf Moore's Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law The IT folks are just going to have to get on the ball and figure out how to cope with this, because it's coming. But I think that personal computers (today “laptops”, tomorrow Dick Tracy wrist computers or Star Trek lapel badges) are in the same situation that phones were a few decades ago.

In 1960, employees used hardwired phones provided by their employers. Then, one day in the 1980s, the water-cooler buzz was, “Hey, did you see what JR has? One of those new cell-u-lar-phone things.” And ten years later, everyone and their teenage kid had one.

Similarly, while today it’s controversial to ask all employees to bring their own computer to work, in ten or fifteen years you wouldn’t dream of trying to prevent it.

Cf Moore’s Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore’s_law

The IT folks are just going to have to get on the ball and figure out how to cope with this, because it’s coming.

]]> By: CLD http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10169 CLD Tue, 25 Apr 2006 19:00:24 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10169 Security would be a nightmare if employees were connecting their own equipment to the company network. It gives me goosebumps and dry-mouth thinking about it. If companies took the time to truly understand what it is they need from an IT department -- and then spend the money to build it <i>properly</i>, you wouldn't run into 20-something twerps trying to support corporate networks over the phone. Most companies don't even know where to place an IT department... it usually ends up being an off-shoot of Finance, answering to the Financial Director, who wouldn't know a ram disk from a router. That's changing, but ever so slowly. Security would be a nightmare if employees were connecting their own equipment to the company network. It gives me goosebumps and dry-mouth thinking about it.

If companies took the time to truly understand what it is they need from an IT department — and then spend the money to build it properly, you wouldn’t run into 20-something twerps trying to support corporate networks over the phone.

Most companies don’t even know where to place an IT department… it usually ends up being an off-shoot of Finance, answering to the Financial Director, who wouldn’t know a ram disk from a router. That’s changing, but ever so slowly.

]]> By: Cakesniffer http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10168 Cakesniffer Tue, 25 Apr 2006 18:17:48 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10168 Points well taken, but the post does not answer its own fundamental question. When do I get my company-issued pants? Points well taken, but the post does not answer its own fundamental question.

When do I get my company-issued pants?

]]> By: Barb http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10167 Barb Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:17:52 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10167 Most everything I've read on this topic is from the IT or business perspective. It is still a truly hideous idea from the employee perspective. First of all, if I receive a stipend or my pay is adjusted for purchasing a laptop, do I have to reimburse the company if I quit before a certain time period has elapsed? After I leave, is the laptop going to be acceptable at the new company, or will I have to buy one there too? If the answer is yes to both, then I am now stuck with a laptop I didn't want in the first place that is specialized for a company I didn't like working for, and is now useless for future work. What happens if I am layed off? Is the computer suddenly not mine because I haven't been with the company long enough to pay for the laptop? I thought it was mine - what happens to all my personal files? My paper that is due next week is in second draft on that machine, because it was my understanding that it was MINE. All of my sex discrimination records are also on what I thought was my computer, which is (I suspect) why I was laid off. Would a lack of investment in hardware for employees make them even more "plug and play?" It sounds like a job, and interviews like a job, but it is really just a short-term contract and it is costing the company very little to bring you on because you are supplying everything but the cubicle. The next natural step in this line of thinking is that the company will not supply a phone. You will be required to have a cell phone (reimbursed based on the company guidelines) and that personal number will be used for the company's purposes. No thank you. If I wanted to be in independent contractor I wouldn't have applied for the job. Most everything I’ve read on this topic is from the IT or business perspective.

It is still a truly hideous idea from the employee perspective. First of all, if I receive a stipend or my pay is adjusted for purchasing a laptop, do I have to reimburse the company if I quit before a certain time period has elapsed? After I leave, is the laptop going to be acceptable at the new company, or will I have to buy one there too? If the answer is yes to both, then I am now stuck with a laptop I didn’t want in the first place that is specialized for a company I didn’t like working for, and is now useless for future work.

What happens if I am layed off? Is the computer suddenly not mine because I haven’t been with the company long enough to pay for the laptop? I thought it was mine - what happens to all my personal files? My paper that is due next week is in second draft on that machine, because it was my understanding that it was MINE. All of my sex discrimination records are also on what I thought was my computer, which is (I suspect) why I was laid off.

Would a lack of investment in hardware for employees make them even more “plug and play?” It sounds like a job, and interviews like a job, but it is really just a short-term contract and it is costing the company very little to bring you on because you are supplying everything but the cubicle.

The next natural step in this line of thinking is that the company will not supply a phone. You will be required to have a cell phone (reimbursed based on the company guidelines) and that personal number will be used for the company’s purposes. No thank you. If I wanted to be in independent contractor I wouldn’t have applied for the job.

]]> By: Larry Jones http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10166 Larry Jones Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:54:42 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/04/24/a-dumb-idea/#comment-10166 Of course you're right about all of this, and I'm sure whatever company you work for employs only the finest, best-trained, most conscientious and people-friendly IT staff, who diagnose problems promptly, cheerfully and in person whenever possible, then fix them and get the user back on the road to big-time productivity. But the company I work for has somehow got the idea that they can manage 40,000 PC's from one office that is on the opposite coast from me, staffed by (what seems like) three surly 20-somethings whose training consists of a list of eight common problems ("Is the printer plugged in?"), followed by the ritual opening of a "ticket," which is code for <i>"You will have time to panhandle enough money for a new computer before you see a technician at your office."</i> This used to bother me until I realized that I'm only working about half as much since this system went into effect, due to the fact that the equipment is always broken. I think they're hoping that we'll all buy our own laptops <i>without </i>any stipend from The Company. Of course you’re right about all of this, and I’m sure whatever company you work for employs only the finest, best-trained, most conscientious and people-friendly IT staff, who diagnose problems promptly, cheerfully and in person whenever possible, then fix them and get the user back on the road to big-time productivity. But the company I work for has somehow got the idea that they can manage 40,000 PC’s from one office that is on the opposite coast from me, staffed by (what seems like) three surly 20-somethings whose training consists of a list of eight common problems (”Is the printer plugged in?”), followed by the ritual opening of a “ticket,” which is code for “You will have time to panhandle enough money for a new computer before you see a technician at your office.” This used to bother me until I realized that I’m only working about half as much since this system went into effect, due to the fact that the equipment is always broken.

I think they’re hoping that we’ll all buy our own laptops without any stipend from The Company.

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