Working At Home

Working at home isn't what it use to be. We all know that a computer (or two) on the desk at work can slow productivity right down. With the terminal comes email, news and lots of tricky software that needs configuring just so. In the good old days, home was mercifully free of such distractions, and you could get down to some reading and writing involving old fashioned paper and books.

Cheap hardware has changed all that -- just the other night I spent an hour getting my computer to say `ouch' when it ejected a disk. Even then, it occurred to me that I could have been utilising my talents in a somewhat more optimal manner.

A giant leap forward has also been made with modems. Once upon a time, they were slow enough and unreliable enough that even die-hard techno-junkies were deterred from using them. Now the typical modems technical abilities mean that email, news, etc. are again at our home-based finger tips.

The question must be asked: what advantages are left to working at home? The intemperate over-heating of white hot technology means that the only real reason for favouring the home is the lack of physical interruptions. It is very unlikely that a troublesome student or a colleague bearing tasks will knock at the door. True, they can send email, but it can be easily ignored, or deleted `by mistake'.

Unfortunately, last week I attended a depressing seminar on tele-commuting, where an array of insidious multimedia devices were demonstrated. Soon we will all be wearing badges that automatically route email to our current location, be it lecture theatre or bath room. It will also report our location to others so they can effortlessly find us (perhaps because we didnt promptly respond to their email?). Computers with attached cameras for face-to-face discussions complete the grisily view of the future.

Andrew Davison