Wi-Fi – A “Must-Have”?
With the arrival of broadband Internet in the last 15 to 20 years and its spread amongst most populations (especially urban ones) it seems that people generally expect free Wi-Fi in any building in which they happen to find themselves.
Examples abound. We only need to look at the number of people who, on ordering a coffee at (say) Starbucks, ask for the Wi-Fi passcode (if it's not already displayed at the counter). Equally, free Wi-Fi is expected at hotels in all rooms at a good speed as part of the package. Being asked to pay extra raises eyebrows.
Even airlines now offer in-flight Wi-Fi in some form. The last time I travelled to the UK, I was able to connect, for a short time, to a free Wi-Fi service. If I had elected to pay extra, I could have enjoyed Wi-Fi throughout the flight.
Broadband Internet has been dubbed “the fourth utility” in addition to water gas and electricity. Now it would appear that free Wi-Fi may become the fifth.
Whilst this is no doubt a boon to many, as it enables people to be in touch no matter where they are, or to work from wherever they happen to find themselves (even on a sunny beach in the tropics) we need to ask ourselves whether we are becoming too dependent on being connected wherever we go.
The corollary to this, of course, is that so many services are delivered remotely through the use of apps or websites through our smart phones, tablets, or laptops. To be disconnected from Wi-Fi can mean you simply are unable to access certain services or goods.
There remains a generation amongst us who are not as “tech-savvy” as many of us. I know people who, for example, do not even own a smart phone and rely for entertainment on terrestrial TV and the telephone.
More and more, the provision of goods and services assumes that the buyer has some kind of device that will enable them to access the Internet. When this is not the case, the system falls down. As the current generation of “technophobes” passes on, we can expect that within the next 10 to 20 years everyone will have at least a smart phone from the age of 10 years (or earlier) until they die.
This will mean that connectivity through Wi-Fi becomes a must-have. The challenge will then be taking the time to “disconnect“ oneself from the world and simply experience life and create real memories, as opposed to experiencing the dystopian future forecast in the 1990 and 2012 versions of the film Total Recall in which respectively Arnold Schwarzenegger and Colin Farrell play the role of someone who has had memory is artificially implanted, precipitating a series of James Bond-like adventures culminating in the inevitable defeat of evil and the hero triumphant.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Productivity, Social, Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 01:22
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