Surviving technology dependency

Jim Cumming
Publisher

Sometimes the best-planned weeks appear to come unglued. I think that this is the case this week.
As we adopt new technology, it appears to simplify our life. We become dependent on it and it doesn’t take long before we have forgotten how we did things without the technology. Such is the case with e-mail.
At 2:55 last Friday, our ability to talk between the two offices in Fort Frances ended. A module that converts electrical signals to light signals and passes the information between two buildings died without any indication that something was wrong. By the time we had the problem diagnosed, the clock had reached 3:30 p.m.
You might not consider that a major problem, except that the main storage devices are located in one building for everyone to access, and the Internet signal comes in at the other building.
That left the newsroom and the advertising department in the dark because reporters and sales people could not access news and advertising from the Internet. It also prevented the advertising department from downloading material from customer’s sites. Our electronic department could not access the storage devices where they keep all the artwork and information they use to build customers web sites.
The time it happened is really crucial. The manufacturer and distributor of the switch are located in Toronto and trying to get help from Toronto on a Friday afternoon at 4:30(their time) and having parts shipped is almost impossible. Luckily for us, the help desk and parts department were more than helpful and promised that the parts would arrive by noon on Monday.
Over the weekend, we developed contingency plans to get the information that we required. A computer was set up in the east building and everyone’s email account was loaded and everyone has taken time to go next door and down load what was needed immediately. The information was saved to a portable unit that was brought to the west building and plugged into the server.
As the day went on, everyone took turns going next door and downloading their e-mail. It is not efficient. Before we became dependent on email, we were dependent on fax service. News articles and advertising orders were received that way. Hourly trips were made to the fax machine to see what had come in and the information was manually distributed.
Before that, we picked up our mail early every morning at the post office and then distributed it to the editor, publisher, accounts receivable etc. It was simple. Mail arrived and was sorted once a day in Fort Frances. Occasionally a courier would also show up, but that happened only once or twice a week.
Everyone understood the timing and allotted time for longer delivery. Today, everything is delivered at the speed of light. You can be on the phone and someone will say " I send you the document right now" and before you hear the end of the statement, your computer has bonged and the document is there for you to read with the person on the phone.
Companies take advantage of the new technology to send you the latest announcement immediately. In the course of a day, the newspaper will receive almost two hundred of those business notices. We’ll also receive a half dozen from each of the major political parties in Toronto and Ottawa along with that many from lobbying groups.
We make time today to sort through all that email. It is not efficient, and for some reason we think that we have to respond immediately to the message. Monday, however, the newsroom seemed to be ahead of itself. No one was bothered.
By noon we were still waiting arrival of the parts. And in early afternoon tracers were being placed to see where they were. We seem to be at a little loss. On Friday afternoon, the information for the web was placed on the portable storage device and transferred to the electronic division to upload. The web site was late getting up but we managed.
And perhaps the best thing that can be said is that we all are getting a little extra exercise walking between buildings and climbing an extra flight of stairs.