Better technology?

• Author: Rundles, Jeff
• Position: RUNDLES wrap up

YOU GOTTA LOVE TECHNOLOGY. IT MAKES SO many things easier to do, and it makes every individual unquestionably more productive. In the old days, if we reporters needed to check the spelling of someone's name, we'd have to make a call; if we needed background, we'd call an expert or go to the public library, or check with out-of-date reference hooks. It was very time-consuming, but at the time, seemed normal. Today we can just go to the Internet, check the website and find thousands of references in seconds. We're generally much more prepared for interviews and can report much more in a fraction of the time. I wish I could say that it has enhanced quality, but it is a fact that quantity is way up per-person, at least).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

I remember more than 20 years ago I heard that a prominent 17th Street "silk stocking" law firm was going high-tech with a new computer system--although what they put in would look like the Gutenberg press to 20-somethings today. In any case, I thought it would make a good article--more productive lawyers; what a concept--so I called the head man, attorney John Moye, to see what impact the technology was having on his practice of law. He said it was making the lawyers more productive, but because they were turning out more work in shorter periods of time it also had the effect of energizing the clients to demand more for the billable hour.

Technology, obviously, raises expectations, if not results. It has completely transformed long-standing traditional businesses and industries, and it creates, at an accelerating rate, new ventures and opportunities that our pre-technology selves could never have imagined. Who, 25 years ago, would have foreseen Google, Facebook, or hand-held, immediate and comprehensive contact with compel pricing, product reviews, inventory and much more all, as they say, in "real time?" It is truly an unreal time.

But it's not all good. One morning last month I went to my computer, as usual, to check my email, make contact with my colleagues and clients and get my workday going. I was waiting for a few, highly important, deadline-pressing communications that. I had been up late working on the night prior, and I was looking forward to completing...