Another Victim of Technology

As the work day becomes more and more computerized, our lives change. And so does the lifespan of one more once trusted office supply.

The inter-office envelope.

I opened a file cabinet recently and discovered that it was full of these ancient artifacts. I sometimes get one or maybe two of these packages a week. I rarely send any out. So, my horde grows. I now have 250 of these suckers stashed away.

I remember the days when we weren't all on Outlook. When, if you needed to get something to somebody on another floor or in another building, you used these trusty friends. Scratching out the name of the last recipient and adding the newest sendee. At last, a chain letter with a purpose.

Now all that communication is on e-mail. Terse notes directing somebody to an attachment. Thanks in advance for your consideration. If you need anything, LMK. That's "let me know" for the uneducated, naive, and technologically resistant.

I look around an office and see other things going the way of the dinosaur and the inter-office envelope.

Post-its. Because generally you used them on top of whatever you sent to somebody in an inter-office envelope. Very much a shelf life in tandem.

Day and Date Desk Planners. Everybody logs every waking work hour now on Outlook Calendar. Gone will be the day where this sits on your desk, screaming out in ink who you are stuck talking to next.

Mail in boxes. Nobody gets real snail mail at work anymore. Most of what does come in is junk. These days, when I get mail that actually has a purpose, I want to frame it like the first dollar bill a new dry cleaning store gets.

The telephone. Don't laugh. The only time it rings anymore is for personal calls.

Fax Machines. Sort of like TV going digital. At some point in the near future, the government will kill all dedicated fax lines because those phone numbers will need to be devoted to Black Berrys and iPhones.

Desk lamps. As computer screens get bigger and brighter, that illumination will be more than enough to destroy your vision. With or without the Al Gore-sanctioned light bulbs.

I could think of more, but I just got ten e-mails in the course of writing this entry. G2G.

Dinner last night: Reuben sandwich at Cafe 50s Diner.