Should You Jump on the Technological Bandwagon (时尚)? Technological Advances and Their Influence Within the last 20 years, we have been swamped with new technology which has helped us run our businesses faster, and hopefully better. Recently, some of us have begun to question whether the onslaught of ever newer technology is really helping us as much as the initial improvements did. Just because a technology is new doesn't necessarily mean that it is better. Perhaps what we should be asking is 'What technology can we really use?' We all have some hi-tech products that we've bought but don't use. Many of us have a VCR with so many complex functions that we have difficulty programming it to record a program. Similarly, we have seen workers spend an hour playing with a computer program to print out a single mailing label which could have been more quickly done on a typewriter. Every business may not be able to afford all of these new toys. And they may not need to. Remembering that in many cases the pushers of new technology are simply salespeople trying to get you to pay for the toys which intrigue them. There are several questions you should ask yourself before making any decision: How much are these toys really worth? Does this new technology make sense for your business? Is this technology really worth the effort needed to use it? With any new technology, there is a payback time when the increased efficiency gained may help to pay for the adoption of that new technology. When you first computerized your office, you got a big boost in efficiency for a minimal investment. As the technology gets ever more sophisticated, you start to lose that increase in efficiency. The old saying goes that you get 90% of your increase in efficiency for 10% of your investment. The remaining 90% of your money is spent trying to get that last 10% increase in efficiency. You have to analyze your business and decide if you ever get enough increase in efficiency to pay back that large additional cost. New Technologies and Their Cost You need to analyze the way you do business to see what you can do to increase your efficiency. You can't get caught in the trap of 'WE' VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY !' You want to keep the best, and throw away the things that slow you down. Sometimes that does mean adopting new technology. Sometimes it means changing the way you do business. Sometimes it means keeping what you have. Let's consider and analyze some of the new technologies. ?Internet Presence The Internet is receiving a lot of hype (炒作) these days, and it sounds as though every business needs to have an Internet presence. Developing and maintaining a website takes time and money.. Before you make that investment, you should decide if you really need an Internet presence. Ask yourself these questions: Are your potential clients located throughout the United States? Do your potential clients own computers? Are your potential clients computer sophisticates who surf the Web regularly? Are the people who ARE on the Internet part of your potential client base? (The primary users of the Internet at this time tend to be educated, middle to upper middle class people.) If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then an Internet presence may make sense for your business. If your potential clients are all local, if they have little or no access to the Internet, then this technology may be one you can play with, as long as you recognize that the expenses will not necessarily increase your business. ?Paperless Office A paperless office is one in which all records are kept only in the computer. To many people, this appears to be a good idea. No paper files are kept, so no time is spent filing. However, time is still needed to scan information into the computer, correct it, etc. More importan