Meetings and Technology
I hate meetings… most are a waste of time. Invariably, whatever “meat” in them requires only a fraction of the total time spent preparing, going to, participating in, and returning from them. Horribly inefficient. And very few people actually know how to run a meeting well… this should be a skill taught in school.
It seems they are unescapable, though. There is merit to gathering people together to discuss ideas (if you can keep them on track) and getting to know each other (but you can only socialize so much on company time!). But, they are very “expensive” (in terms of resources used… especially TIME) and the return on that investment is often questionable.
Once again, technology has come to the rescue. One of the many good things that has come out of the expansion of the internet is the ability to inexpensively videoconference… to hold virtual meetings. In these times of high gas prices, eliminating the travel expense is significant (not to mention the time for that travel). Even without the video component, the ability to share images from your computer desktop (deliver real-time presentations and demonstrations) and have two-way audio is a tremendous productivity tool.
It wasn’t so long ago that this activity wasn’t even possible… then it became possible, but was so expensive that only very large companies could afford it. Now, even small businesses and individuals can use very powerful multimedia tools at relatively low expense.
Connecting with each other using technology allows us to do more things, do them quicker, and do them at a lower cost than ever before. At one time, I might have driven across town to a store to find out if they had a particular item (taking a lot of time on my part, not to mention fuel, etc.), then I might have phoned to find that out (taking less of my time but still using the time of people on the other end of the phone), and now I will often jump onto their website and check their inventory myself (often answering my question faster than it would take to get to talk to a human being at the store by phone)!
These technical innovations were the stuff of science fiction when I was a kid… and now they are reality. What does our future hold?
I am quite hopeful that, among the many unimaginable things that will come about, viable solutions to the problems revolving around our energy and travel requirements will be implemented. While technology might reduce significantly the need to travel, it will not eliminate it… even if people don’t need to be “moved” as much, GOODS WILL need to be transported… so better methods will undoubtedly be discovered and, no matter what that is, it will require some form of energy. Even if WE stay at home more, it takes energy to power our homes… and all that technology we’ll rely on increasingly.
It strikes me that ELECTRICITY is the most flexible FORM of energy… it is already almost ubiquitous. We already have viable electric vehicles so, if (WHEN!) we have advanced battery technology allowing those vehicles to travel 400-500 miles on a charge and then QUICKLY be replenished, that part of the problem will be solved. Of course, there are already many “all electric” houses… so that takes care of the home front.
The underlying challenge, then, is how to efficiently GENERATE electricity without relying on expensive (and mostly foreign) oil or coal (that must be transported), both of which have environmental disadvantages. How can we provide electricity cleanly and cheaply?
We have technology TODAY that can and does do a very good job of generating electricity cleaning and cheaply: nuclear power. Notwithstanding the need to dispose of nuclear waste (there ARE ways of addressing this safely), this is a method that can be used now. ALREADY, nuclear power provides about 20% of the electricity in the U.S. and, while it would take some time to build more generating stations, it is something that is proven, safe, and available today.
This seems like a realistic step forward in the relatively short term… buying us time to develop other technologies that could replace nuclear power in the long term.
