Is Technology a Blessing or a Curse

When the power went off in the Shop on Winford Road a few weeks ago, the whole place was paralysed. The petrol pumps didn’t function and the tills wouldn’t work so no one could buy any food or enjoy their early morning cups of coffee.

It wasn’t long before normal service was resumed, but it got me thinking about how reliant we have become on technology and how our lives depend on it working properly.

We are lucky that we benefit in so many ways from the modern technology. Things that our parents couldn’t even imagine. Making video calls around the world, paying bills on the phone and booking a holiday with a few clicks on an I-pad have become the norm and have made our lives easier.

On the other hand some things have become more complicated. For example, how many apps do you now need to ensure you can park your car wherever you like? What happens when it wants to update and you don’t have enough signal? And if you need to fall back on old fashioned cash, how do you get your bank notes if you’ve loaded all your cards onto your phone and the ATM still insists you need to insert it? You see what I mean? Amazing benefits on the one hand but a complete mess if it doesn’t work properly and at a time when we are hearing of more and more hacking from outside influences.

This is a major problem for business in the modern age, where companies seek to make the most of available technology to provide the best possible service to their customers, but run a risk of it all going wrong when things come to a standstill.

So, what’s the answer? I am no Luddite by any means and my own opinion is that businesses should use the facilities that modern systems offer. However, there is still a lot to be said about the adage of “belt and braces” so my suggestion is that to ensure proper resilience it’s important to have an old-fashioned plan ‘B’ which comes into play when technology lets you down. It’s certainly a topic that we will be discussing at our next Chamber meeting.