Power tools for paradigm 2

Power tools for paradigm 2

Back in the 1970’s there were predictions that scientific and technical developments would lead to an age of leisure in the 21^st century – with machines to do our work for us we would be working half as much. Like the paperless office this has failed to materialise, instead we seem to be working harder and longer. What has happened is that our machines allow us to do more in the same period of time – we still work the same long hours.

The problem with working in paradigm 2 is coping with the jump in the amount of information generated as more and more people  participate and produce. We have power tools like electric drills and saws to assist us with mechanical needs –  we need power tools to help us with our information needs.

Here are a few of the “power tools” required for paradigm 2

Email – automatic processes, rules and filtering

With overwhelming volumes of email you will need to apply some methods of automatically dealing with it. Possible developments with email systems are being able to automatically flag message priorities according to message criteria (sender, subject, key words etc). For now being able to accurately put items automatically into a junk mail filter is very useful.

Search

With so much information “out there” and “in here” on your own systems you need to have some methods of being able to find what you need. Google are at the heart of Web 2 development and it is Google of course who took search to a new level. Although I organise my emails and file storage in folders I have found the new desktop search systems very useful indeed. Having search technology available and being proficient in its use will be vital.

RSS – Feeds

It will become impossible to visit and keep up to date with all the pages you will need  – creating your own summary pages that take updates from the web pages you are interested will become vital.

The Future

One development I see as essential in the near future to help us cope are automated proxies. These will be systems programmed by us to process, decide and respond automatically on our behalf and present us with a summary of actions taken so that programming can be adjusted. Such systems  would present us with a virtualised view and it is quite possible that these tools would lead to what we could regard as paradigm 3.