At the end of the 20th century technology entered into the next millennium the focus of the worlds media. The big question was would the world melt down at midnight on the 31 December 1999 as the worlds computers fell foul to the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug. This Y2K bug was caused by the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits in many of the early computer systems that the world now relied on. Some programs could not distinguish between the year 2000 and the year 1900 and it was feared that this practise by IT professionals to save precious computer memory could bring a much feared melt down of computers around the world. However, clocks ticked, parties were held, fireworks flood lighted the sky in major cities around the world and for a moment we all held our breath at the thought of what the next millennium and decade would bring. More importantly, would our technology survive the transition into the 21st century?
In the UK, a new term “e-rage” has been identified in a survey by the Internet service provider Eclipse Internet. This survey looked at the effects of email downtime on staff in a selection of businesses types, and demonstrated that “the frustration of not having access to email can see them resort to extreme measures in an attempt to fix the problem”. This extreme behaviour extends to both agitated “mouse-clicking”, kicking computers and verbally abusing IT staff. There is also the human aspect of being connoted on a 24/7 basis. In 2001, the technology author Gil Gordon coined the phrase “defensive overworking”, which suggested that people now worked longer hours because of technology and a fear of unemployment. Gordon suggested that this “may be why some people who in the mid-1980’s would never have dreamed of interpreting their holiday to contact the office now carry a Blackberry and check their voicemail and email regardless of the fact they are supposed to be enjoying a break. In 2008 by the UK recruitment company Office Angles carried out a survey which identified how UK office staff who were provided with remote technology like smartphones or Blackberry’s were giving back around 20 days a year to their employers. Of the 1000 sample base 10% admitted to checking-in constantly outside working hours. However, there was a positive view of this use of technology in this research, as the group surveyed reported that 40% of the sample base felt grateful for the technology. Core reasons cited were they were more efficient (41%). Of a positive note, 15% reported that Blackberries reduced their stress levels by preventing email build-up and 39% said it allowed for flexible working giving them a better life-work-balance which helped balance the impact of technology on their lives.
Technology has changed everything in the last ten years, how we listen to music, take photographs, watch movies, communicate, socialise, shop and even meet people for sexual encounters, love and marriage. We have a generation of children that have grown up digital, that have no idea what is is like to not to have the Internet or a mobile phone at the centre of their social world. This has in turn brought problems with it as the darker side of society found that lurking in digital meeting places was another way of accessing the vulnerable and naive. For every new digital product realised there is a new digital challenge for IT professionals to ensure data is protected and a company’s intellectual property is not stolen. However, a number of other key technology events have helped highlight the importance of technology and in particular the use of consumer technology in this digital age. When President Barack Obama took office as the first black American President on 20 January 2009 history was made. By embracing technology, and in particular social networking and instant messaging, he has helped on his journey to the White House. The use of the website barackobama.com, set up by the 23-year old Chris Hughes changed the way politics is played on the Internet, and on the ground. Obama connected to a new generation of voters across America by allowing his campaign and message to become viral through sites like Facebook, You Tube and the short message blog service Twitter. The main devices these messages were viewed on were consumer mobile phones and laptops of this new generation of voters who went on to spread the Obama message to their physical and virtual friends. The digital tools Hughes put on Obama’s social networking site helped create an online community with over one million people. This use of always on consumer led technology is also being used in the UK by the office of the Prime Minster who uses services like twitter.com and youtube.com to provide updates on the work of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. As the Guardian newspaper reported in 2008 “In the new digital age, it appears Brown has found his own outlet for getting straight to real people: the internet.”
The impact of digital decadence does present a challenge to IT professionals and the workforce who rely on it. It impacts on the fine line between what is work and what is home life due to the now ubiquitous nature of email and access to work systems. But in a digital age society adapts as we have done before with previous new technology. It is thanks to technology that water can reach our homes. Food can be processed and preserved helping make it easier for us [the human race] to satisfy our basic needs. It could be said that many people in many countries can lead a luxurious life, thanks to technology. As knowledge becomes the new basic need we now see a new generation of workforce and consumer seize upon its access [to connect online] at every opportunity.
Like clean water and sanitation was a must to our forefathers, 24/7 access to to information is a necessity for our digital decadence generation, not only to survive but also to proposer, Here’s to the next decade of digital decadence and all the innovation it may bring!
