Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
One of my biggest advantages in my career was the fact that I got a home computer early in life.
That meant I could use job search sites back when they were just evolving, or send faxes over the modem. It meant I could train myself on software and in coding whenever I wanted. it let me build resumes and skills.
Now, years later (fifteen or sixteen to be precise), the home computer is nearly omnipresent, but one fact hasn't changed: the technology in your household can be a career advantage.
Imagine you're a professional and you tell someone you don't have a cell phone.
In most cases, people will be surprised (a few will be envious). Cell phones are almost expected right now. They're normal. They're even more normal for anyone tha drives in front of me on the freeway apparently.
As noted last week, smartphones were starting to become a social norm. Texting is rampant (even without Twitter). If I don't respond to text messages in an our or two people actually get worried.
Our technical usage has changed social expectations. What it means to be mature, connected, and even polite has been altered by the technologies we have.
A year plus into this blog, and I find myself wondering just what technologies people, not just geeks, will be embracing in the years to come. SO much has changed in just one year, the world has been altered radically in the last ten technology-wise, and many cultural shifts have gone unnoticed (remember when games were for geeks not everyone? That was what, 2 years ago?).
So I asked myself what technologies out there people must embrace or fall behind, will likely embrace, and may embrace in a large-but-not-widescale way. In short, what are people definitely and likely going to be using five years from now.
So here's my take