Blog 5

http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_magazine/magazine_Detail.asp?ID=243

Rite Emmer, In Their Words...CIOs Love/Hate Relationship with Technology, Hospitality Upgrade, October 2007.

This article is about all of the latest technologies that are being used by the CIOs in the hospitality business. All of the CIOs had different opinions on what they like and what they don’t like about the current and future technologies being used by themselves and by the employees. PDAs were one of the biggest items discussed. While they are an excellent way to contact the person without having to wait for him or her to be paged or tracked down, they are also hated by many for the very same reason. It is efficient to get a hold of the person when you need them. However, it is just as bad to be constantly badgered because you are available 24 hours a day, every day. CIOs find that they sometimes cannot get away from their work world. Despite that, it is believed that PDAs will one day replace laptop, which have the same capabilities as a PDA, but with shorter battery life. Also discussed was VoIP. Although this is a hot new technology on the market, CIOs are still disappointed by the imperfections of the quality. In this business, the perfect details of communication are a key factor. Lastly, CIOs mentioned that they are involved with some sort of professional podcast or blog.

It was interesting to read about how the CIOs felt about technology in the present and upcoming future. I have never owned a PDA, but I’m sure that once I enter the business world, it will become necessary. It is an extremely useful device to stay on top of things, no matter where you are. However, I agree about the constant availability issue. People need a break from work to enjoy some guaranteed leisure and family time. If I ever do get a PDA, I think that I would like to turn it off after I leave work so that any incoming calls will be sent directly to my voicemail, where I can screen whether the matter needs immediate attending to or if it can wait till tomorrow. I was disappointed to read that VoIP is not of a great quality yet. I feel that with as advanced as technology is now, it should have been perfected by now. It is a wonderful way to communicate and I hope that it will soon be completely satisfactory for the industry’s needs. I think its weird that businesspeople are using professional podcasts and blogs. I suppose that’s because I’m used to them being used by the younger generations for entertainment purposes, rather than professional uses.