Technology, Real Estate and Me

Note: This post is written by the Luddite, Amy.

I’m of the generation that started using computers in grammar school. I died more than once from dysentery while playing Oregon Trail. I’m sure many of you fine readers suffered similar fates. After college I worked for IT consulting firms. Again, surrounded by technology. I used to transfer data from legacy computer systems to whatever new, spiffy software my company was installing. Thrilling, I know.

Today I continue to find myself inundated with technology. My laptop for all of my everyday work. My smart phone (currently a Droid 2-something-or-other) for talking, emailing, texting and surfing the web while I’m on the go. And most recently, an iPad2. I’ve lovingly named it Tiny.

Tiny the iPadKyle convinced me that we needed the iPad for business stuff. I’m not going to tell you for what exactly because that’s strategic voodoo and many of our competitors read this blog, so I can’t be letting them in on the goods. Let’s just say he had a compelling argument on why we should have one. So I sent him off to the store to make the purchase. My only input was to demand the sky blue colored cover rather than the apple green one he proposed.

Maybe there is something wrong with me (and I’ve been told by several that there is), but I really have no interest in the latest addition to our family. Tiny, while cute, small and light has no draw for me. I shudder when I look at it. Another device and technology to learn- I’ve been a Microsoft girl since undergrad, some 17 years ago. Another time suck. My laptop and phone seem to do everything that it does. Why the redundancy?

Urgh. I’m all about technology and my job, but it’s getting to a point where I’m starting to feel overwhelmed. I need to keep up with my various devices. I need to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and Google+ (does it even exist anymore? I just don’t know…).

When can I go back to doing my job? After I learn how to use Tiny to make me “better” at my job, I guess… Thanks Kyle!

8 thoughts on “Technology, Real Estate and Me

  1. Good post… I must say that I still can’t wrap my brain around online reading of longer documents (PDFs, online textbooks, etc) I still like to flip the pages. I would be curious to know if you find that reading multi-page doc or books on Tiny, over time, grows to be more enjoyable.

  2. Does MLS still require a windows based operating system in order to work? (even though it is a web tool) A more open MLS usable on all operating systems would make the iPad a much more useful tool.

  3. It is hard to keep up. And I also find my energy and interest ebbs and flows. I do love my Kindle and iphone. I’ve set my sights on the Ipad for next year since you can read ur kindle books etc on it. I also am slowly starting to get used to streaming netflix and other stuff onto the computer instead of TV.

    I like Twitter though I only follow a few people who don’t over-tweat – and a few cities and other organizations use if very effectively. Its turned into a sort of diary mostly for myself as to my actual tweating. I nosed around Facebook last night for the first time ever – and it felt overwhelming — like a crowded elevator – but I will tiptoe around in there tonight and decide if I keep open my new account or hurry up and close it. The interface seems really busy to me – but I’ll give it a try. At work – everything is online – which is kinda nice as it allows for remote working.

  4. Frank, the MLS still requires the Windows Internet Explorer browser, so no MLS on the iPad … definitely a limitation. They have been promising a version that runs on all browsers for a while now, and we recently heard that it may be ready this fall. I’ll believe it when I see it.

  5. Brooks- I don’t think I’ll transition over to online books unless forced to. And to be honest, I would probably read less than I do now when that day comes. I just like holding a book and being able to flip pages.

    Michael- For the most part I use Twitter for publicizing blog posts. I’ll join a conversation briefly every now and then if I feel I can answer a question or add something. I like Facebook because it allows me to keep up with people from different facets/times of my life. I have a separate page for the blog and really try not to use my personal Facebook account for work things. People just don’t want to be inundated with that sort of thing, I find. Good luck with your social networking experiences. I’ve determined that there is a lot of “noise” and I try to minimize the time suck on my real life. 🙂

  6. I use twitter pretty heavily for professional purposes. I have found it to be a great way to network with people who I do not get much opportunity to see in the flesh. The informal nature of it is great; I can follow a heavy hitter in the profession, and when I have the opportunity can offer highly relevant responses as public replies to their tweets, which can lead to that person following me, etc.

    That said, I am choosy about adopting technology. I basically hate Linkedin, I use a filofax to keep track of everything (my boss says “oh how cute, it is like a paper version of evernote!”), and recently switched from an iPhone back to a blackberry because I really want my phone to allow me to reliably and quickly type out accurate email messages dozens of times a day, which touch screen keyboards just don’t do well. I also cannot see the point of tablets, but many of my colleagues just rave about theirs. I think that if I had a lengthy commute by bus or train I may think about investing in one, to more effectively get on with work while stuck in transit, but other than that I just don’t quite see the point!

    Love the Oregon Train reference! I have not thought about that in years! We used to spend hours on the computer (some kind of early apple I believe) in the basement of Noah Webster School playing that.

  7. Tiny made a special appearance at our Entrepreneur Committee meeting this week. Yay! Agreed tech can always be overwhelming, but you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. Twitter has not yet taken off out here b/c many have not yet grasped its utility as simple conversation over shouting at your customers. Expect a pretty massive expansion of Twitter usage once Apple integrates it into the upcoming version of the iPhone/iPad OS this fall.

    Tiny already cast his/her(?) mark as the fastest selling consumer device in history so he/she is not going away anytime soon. Then again if you have an MiniMe-Tiny (iPhone) you already know how to use Tiny. Tablets remain the largest growth market we are watching at the University, w/many of my colleagues already dumping their PCs for 90% of what they do via Tiny + wireless keyboard at their desks. And regardless of MLS, Tiny remains the best way to show clients photos/videos of other listings that you have before carting them over, only to find out that it is not really their style anyway.

    Use what makes you most effective. The fastest typist in the world would still remain fastest from thought to print with an old school Singer typewriter over a brand-new PC!

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