Staying Up on Advances in Technology

I’ll admit it: I’m a bit of a tech geek. I started out with a career in computers and have enjoyed keeping up on it.

But even I get worn out by the rapid changes in technology these days. Not just high tech – computers, phones, networks – but technology in every realm of life. I was remarking to my optometrist recently that dramatic increases in price seem to directly stem from technologies that didn’t even exist until recent years. The options are dizzying.

It’s amazing, but also very draining.

The challenge is to keep up with just the technologies which are important in life. This will include:

• Those which help you to continue to deliver value in your work.
• Those which will help you get your next job.
• Those which make your life easier, especially as you go through different stages.
• Those which bring you enjoyment: intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually.

Then the key is this: DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE OTHER ONES. Let other people follow the trends, listen when they give you recommendations, but don’t spend more energy unless you can see that it might give you some benefit.

I’ve been aware of Second Life for awhile; it’s a “virtual reality” website where you can go and interact with people anywhere in the world – actually TALK with them. But I’ve been avoiding it, I couldn’t figure out any reason why I should care. But recently I decided to dip my toe in the water because I was talking to people about using it as a way to give presentations which are more interesting than the usual endless-PowerPoint-slides.

And for that reason, I can see that Second Life (and others like it) might have potential. It does indeed create a more interesting learning environment than sitting in front of a boring computer presentation for an hour, because you can interact with other people who are experiencing the same thing as you are. And I can now start to get a feel for why “Twitter conversations” might have value in the classroom too.

But I haven’t become a fan of Second Life just because it’s there or because I find it enjoyable. I can see that I might have to learn the technology to be able to build a more successful business. Now I have a reason to spend a little time learning about what it can do.

What are the technologies that would help you most in your job and make your life better? Find out where people are talking about them, and then don’t feel bad about ignoring the rest.

by Carl Dierschow