Are you bewildered by technology?

[duncan drennan]

There is an article on MyBroadband which mentions that small businesses are confused by all the technology out there.

NEW technologies that could help small businesses to grow are not being used effectively because they are too complex and the choice is too bewildering.

Mobile technologies are advancing so rapidly that small business are baffled by all the options, and are failing to benefit from the advantages they offer, according to the Mobility 2006 report.

Full story on MyBroadband

So how do you feel about all the new technologies out there? Are you able to get to grips with what is important to your business?

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a service that looked at your business and determined what technologies are the best fit and would improve productivity (and therefore profits!!)?

What do you guys think?

[Dave A]

For me the biggest irritation is that you apply the latest technology and tomorrow it's out of date.

I think there could be a market for consultant type assistance. The question would be the extent of uptake. The "maintain the status quo" and "techno fear" mindsets are strong inhibitors.

[duncan drennan]

I think there could be a market for consultant type assistance. The question would be the extent of uptake. The "maintain the status quo" and "techno fear" mindsets are strong inhibitors.

I think the goal would be to overcome the "techno fear"/"status quo" in a practical way that allows people to work with technology in a way that makes sense to them and their business.

I think most people selling technology are more interested in the sale than how well the technology fits that particular business. It also takes a lot more time to ask the right questions.

As far as new tech goes, I'm always wary of the latest, newest tech. Normally it still has to be proven to be useful (in real terms), and has not shown it's lasting ability to impact on the way we do business. Actually something along the lines of what Jim Collins mentions in Good to Great (disclaimer: this is an affiliate link).

[duncan drennan]

I just noticed that there was someone wondering what a Luddite was...well, basically someone who fears and loathes technology

Colloquially it is often used to describe someone who has no clue what is going on technologically - for the full run down on the history of the Luddites, have a look at Wikipedia.

The Luddites were a social movement of English textile workers in the early 1800s who protested � often by destroying textile machines � against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt threatened their jobs. The movement, which began in 1811, was named after a mythical leader, Ned Ludd. For a short time the movement was so strong that it clashed in battles with the British Army. Measures taken by the government included a mass trial at York in 1813 that resulted in many death penalties and transportations (deportation to a penal colony).

The English historical movement has to be seen in its context of the harsh economic climate due to the Napoleonic Wars; but since then, the term Luddite has been used to describe anyone opposed to technological progress and technological change. For the modern movement of opposition to technology, see neo-luddism.

Bit of trivia for the day

[Dave A]

I think this story has some relevance.

Just over one in 10 South Africans with bank accounts have ever used their cellphones for banking, according to research into cellphone banking released by World Wide Worx on Tuesday.
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World Wide Worx found that demand in rural areas was often far higher than in urban areas, supporting last year's finding, from Mobility 2005, that need for access was a far more important determinant of cellphone banking than being switched on to the possibilities of technology.
full story from M&G here

The thrust of this case would seem to show that uptake is driven more by need than mere availability.

[duncan drennan]

The thrust of this case would seem to show that uptake is driven more by need than mere availability.

I think that is a reality that a lot of technical people don't realise. I've never used cell phone banking because do all my banking over the internet at a lower cost - or at least I perceive it to be lower, but I've never bothered to find out what cell phone banking costs are.

[Martin]

I think that is a reality that a lot of technical people don't realise. I've never used cell phone banking because do all my banking over the internet at a lower cost - or at least I perceive it to be lower, but I've never bothered to find out what cell phone banking costs are.

Thing is, the banks used to have cell banking over WAP a couple of years ago. But this was when GPRS still cost about R25 per MB and there weren't all that many WAP capable phones around. They didn't have a huge uptake and eventually dumped the idea.

A while later they started up again with cell banking via SMS. I didn't like this as SMS's cost too much in my opinion to do your banking (yes, call me cheap if you'd like) and the functionality was very limited.

A couple of months ago the banks relaunched their WAP banking. Really great stuff. Nearly all the functionality of normal internet banking. The transaction costs are the same as normal internet banking and the GPRS/EDGE/3G costs are negligable. And it's all secure of course.

I currently use it for both ABSA and Standard Bank and I love it!

Very simple to use as well:

For ABSA:
Point your phone's WAP browser to https://ib.absa.co.za/ib/mb.do

For Standard:
Point your phone's WAP browser to sbcell.co.za (no https://.....)

I think you need to register in the bank if you want to make transactions though. Can't really remember.