I experienced one of those technology shift moments today. You know, the kind of feeling you get when you suddenly realize you've been using one technology less and another, newer technology more.
The relative quiet in our office this week perhaps contributed to my heightened awareness of things. The phones are pretty quiet and that is unusual in our office. The phone has been the main tool on my desk for as long as I have been working. It's my Swiss army knife. Sure, we use our computers a good deal but actual deals are made on the phone, talking to somebody.
That much is still true. What’s changed is the actual phone. Up until recently, when I was seated at my desk, the ubiquitous black office desktop phone has ruled the roost. The desktop phone was my default phone for work.
That is no longer the case. I’m not sure when the trend actually started but it probably goes back to arrival of phones that were truly mobile, un-tethered from cars. Before long my mobile phone found a space on my desk right next to my desk phone. The new technology had made its beachhead.
Little did I know that almost two years ago, The Gartner Group predicted that by 2011 “although most users will still also have a desktop phone, mobile phones will become more prevalent and replace desktop voice hardware to become the primary device."
Today, the bulk of the calls I’ve received while sitting at my desk, have been on my Droid X. I also noticed that I make more outgoing calls with this phone because it’s easier.
