I hate fax machines.
They use way too much paper, they jam all the time, they still use a land line, they are unreliable, and email can do everything they can do. Only better.
Faxing is not the only tech I wish would go the way of the dodo bird (too soon?). I have a list of others I wish we could wave buh-bye to. You may or may not agree with me, but I think we use old pieces we could replace for free or via a low cost alternative.
These alternatives can lead to a more efficient work flow, and in some cases, more data security. We may not have the power to change other people’s behavior, but we can start.
Without further ado, here is my list, and perhaps the Church should lead the charge here…
- Faxing – Switching to a fax software or service is not a viable replacement. To completely eliminate the need for paper, I recommend using Open Office to create PDF’s and emailing documents when possible. Use a scanner to import already existing paper when necessary.
- Land lines – While you are getting rid of your fax machine, you may find it possible to get rid of your landlines altogether. Most telephones can be replaced via a simple VOIP system or cell phones.
- Hard copies of software / Media – This one may be harder to control. Not all software is available for download. I know some who like to keep a hard copy of all software for backup purposes (of course, four years later they are throwing away tons of CD’s). We should reconsider how we use and store software and media. By storing server copies of these items, you reduce the risk items being lost or destroyed.
- Flash drives – These little things used to be a status symbol. Now I have a desk drawer full of them. Instead, encourage the use of Drop Box (for more reasons as to why you should use drop box, click here). Users can access via the client, a web interface, or their iPhone. You can get 50gb of online storage, which can be administered, for $10 / month. Oh, and did I mention? No more lost or defunct flash drives laying around with sensitive data on them.
Things I Wish I Could Change:
While the above list can be altered by making small changes, there are a couple of things in tech I wish we could change, but really have no power over.
- Product keys – Most software companies use a 12-32 character “key” to unlock software. This is cumbersome method is outdated and annoying. The only way around this is to constantly search for open source alternatives to all your software, but in reality, this is not always possible. The best part is when you fat finger one and have to re-enter it, or when you find out it was case sensitive…after you already entered the entire thing.
- Overpriced cell phone data plans – I pay $35 / month for high speed access at home. If I wish to have 3G speeds on my phone, I have to pay $30 / month. Did I mention 3g is about as fast as dial-up?
- Inkjet Printers – You can get a laser printer for less than a hundred bucks. Want a color one? Just $200 and you can print laser quality photos. Why do we still drop $80 on ink cartridges? I think people should join the laser printer revolution! VIVA LAS’AR REVOLUTION! (sorry…)
What tech would you like to see go away? How would you replace it? Are you already phasing out older habits and methods? How are your end users handling it?
Bonus Question:
Have you gone Office Space on any piece of equipment because it failed you repeatedly?
[Image from Untitled13]
David says
Does IE6 count as technology? I know there’s been a lot of talk about companies ceasing support for IE6 but it hasn’t really gone anywhere.
I know I’ve started to do it in my freelance work, but it can be quite hard to educate clients whose sole purpose is to sell products about the bigger picture reasoning behind not supporting IE6. But I have put in a clause to my agreements about the extra work involved in supporting it.
I too have a draw full of flash drives, none of which get used anymore. I have one older client that walks into the office and whips out his flash drive like he is just the coolest.
John Saddington says
haha. yeah.
Don Dudley says
To tell the truth, I always wonder about companies who have not at least upgraded to IE7. I think they have had more than enough time to test it…
David says
I know that one company I deal with use to use IE6 because the web application they used for stocktaking was so old that it was completely incompatible with anything newer. I don’t know if it was an unwillingness to change the app they were using, or if it was that there were no better apps available.
They’ve upgraded to IE7 now, which is ever so slightly better. So that’s a couple hundred IE6 users gone, only a few million left.
William Kunkel says
I would like to see spreadsheets (Excel, or OpenOffice, or StarOffice, or _____) that are silos of business critical data that are stored on a hard drive be moved into scalable database platform. So much time is wasted at a business with people not all having key information at the same time.
Don Dudley says
I agree. The problem comes in weaning those fanatic Excel users.
Brian Barela says
definitely land-lines! so painful how much money is spent maintaining these things.
BenJPickett says
Unfortunately there is a lot up there that is still very much needed due to the lack companies being able to afford a full time IT guy or an IT consultant. Without us, most people will never know about some of these services.
Some simple counter arguments against some of these services:
While drop box and similar services certainly have proven there data centers weight in gold, thumb drives are still very much needed. Ever tried rolling out a software package that is a few hundred MB’s across the cloud? Even on a rock solid fast network connection it will still take 30+ minutes for that to synchronize when in that time the install could be done from the flash drive.
Land Lines. In order for VOIP to really shine there needs to be full on broadband roll out. And no, DSL is not broadband.
Fax Machines. In my current employment we still receive so many faxes, it would actually cost us more to switch to a service. We’ve gotten as many people to start emailing us as possible but still get upwards of 200 faxes a month.
Getting rid of CDs and other hard media. While it would be a great benefit to get rid of it, the organization process for keeping track of the CD Keys would be a pain when you have a large library. And if a hard drive fails….
….Oh Noes now You’ll Nevar get Ur ePic!!!!!!!!!1
Don Dudley says
For the record, I would never recommend rolling out software packages from Drop Box like clients. If you are packaging software (especially if you are using something like Admin Studio), you should have server space where you can store them. You can then deploy them with a service like SCCM (if you can afford it), X Serve or Ghost. I would recommend Drop Box only for file sharing or backup.
As for faxing, I still say no to faxing services. I think it would be better to scan and email or create PDF’s. Less paper and ink always means more $$ in your companies / churches pocket.
As for hard media, we have started storing all software keys in FileMaker Pro so we can access them by title, type, and version. We simply scan the key into a PDF and store it in the database. We do keep the original key in a fire safe just because. We tend to keep most of our software backed up as software only except in those rare exceptions where we are required to keep a hard copy.
If there is no IT consultant in your company, maybe you could sell or volunteer your services to help them make the move to new school methods.