I heard an interesting fact this week. It seems that most people would prefer to have more time than more money. Whoever said that never met Kevin in purchasing. He requires multiple forms for even the most mundane office product request, and by the time he finally orders the requested item, it is likely obsolete.
He then returns the item, saving money. As you can imagine, Gentle Reader, this drives a tech Jedi like me crazy. I love gadgets. I don’t always have the latest and greatest, but I do tend to be ahead of the curve amongst my friends. That means that I spend a lot of time researching gadgets- on the Internet, in magazines and so on. I like to shop for gadgets by reading about all my options. For me, having only one gadget that does multiple things is the ultimate quest.
My wife’s shopping pattern is different. She likes to shop, but only if she can save money. She prefers a bargain to almost anything. When I asked her to give me the money she saved on a recent shopping trip, she looked at me like I had three heads. (Which is how she would have purchased them. If one bargain is good, three is better. And that explains the triplicate of most everything in her closet and our pantry.) The best for the cheapest is her goal. She wants to save money, I want to do more with my time. The relationship between technology and saving time seems remote. It is harder to imagine than the relationship between technology and saving money. Every new piece of tech hardware I get costs money. And the essential accessories drive the cost even higher. Take my new cellular phone, for example.
I was a long devotee of all things iPhone. I gave a seminar on their use at a Bar convention this summer. But after accidentally face dialing my mother
into a conference call multiple times:
“You never call me.”
“I can’t talk right now, I will call you back.”
“Counselor, you better not hang up on me.”
“Not you judge, I am trying to get my mother off the phone.”
“I heard that.”
And so, after years with the iPhone, I switched to an Android device and a new carrier last month. The cost of the new phone was one thing, but the new chargers, cases and so on drove the cost even higher. Accessory costs are an easy 20 percent on top of the initial purchase price for cell phones. It has been about 18 years since I got my first cell phone. I remember that it came about the time I got my first child. I justified the phone as a safety item, but the sales person at whatever phone store preceded Cingular Wireless told me it would save me time. I even repeated the sales pitch to my boss and friends when I justified the purchase. What time, they asked me? The time spent pulling over to use a pay phone when my pager went off, of course. (If you don’t know what a pay phone is, text me and I will tell you.)
I had to have a pager during law school for my job. I was a limo driver. We got dispatched, rerouted or new passenger notifications via pager. The pager gave me a phone number that I had to pull over and call. Of course, once I got the cell phone, I not only didn’t have to pull over, I didn’t need the pager. I spent the time I used to use on the pager return calls talking on my new cell phone.
My smartphone is the newest uber gadget. It carries my calendar and contact list, searches the Internet and plays music. Carrying this one device to court keeps me organized with minimal equipment. Of course, that means when I don’t have my smartphone, I am without my calendar, contacts and other necessities. It is common to see lawyers standing at the courthouse with phones drawn, coordinating schedules. Or comparing Angry Bird scores.
I often look for some of the time my gadgets save me. The best time saver is decidedly low tech. Back in my pager days, I found that the gadget didn’t work well in areas with thick walls. A trip to a movie theater resulted in radio silence, and I could avoid unwanted pages. Once I realized this, I would schedule periods of solitude in movie theaters or library basements. At least allegedly. My smartphone gets a signal most places, which makes this time saver difficult to employ. But I haven’t given up looking yet. Where is all this saved time to be invested? I will use some of it surfing the Internet, some watching college football (go Pokes!) and probably waste the rest. But that is not the point.
©2011 under analysis llc. under analysis is a nationally syndicated column of the Levison Group. Google Spencer Farris on your phone if you want to know who he is- sort of a big deal. Comments or criticisms about this column may be sent c/o this newspaper or directly to the Levison Group via email at comments@levisongroup.com.