A story about what happens with office technology

Once upon a time, a young kid, Sam, graduated from university. He didn't know much about computers, but he was always willing to try new things. Screwing things up didn't scare him.

The boss, Doug, hated computers and limited his usage to sending and receiving emails. Even then, if the young man wanted an answer before next week, he was better off dropping by the office. The boss was used to a different time when all notes were dictated and typed by a secretary on her typewriter.

The young man could see brilliance in his boss's eyes. But his technical skills on a computer were equal to a three year old's penmanship.

There was another person, John, working with Sam who was the same age as Doug. He liked his job, but computers were getting the best of him. He felt like they would break if he hit the wrong key. He was afraid of them ever since the manual work had gone on them.

The computers sensed it.

And the computers got stronger. And with it so did the internet.  Doug and John liked the internet. They could see sports scores and news highlights. Even Facebook was a blessing. They could find friends they hadn't seen in 25 years.

The day to day tasks on the computer got harder and more complicated. Most of the easy stuff got transferred to smart phones.  The young kid was getting older. He grew into the internet, but didn't grow up with it.

Sam was now forty years old. His boss and John were fully struggling in their careers. Doug and John never had smart phones. They didn't even like cell phones. The young kid would do most of their computerized work for them until the company recognized how much of a burden they were. The two older guys were downsized and ended up working at Walmart until they retired.

Sam continued to work but every year got harder. New systems were released every 90 days. Phones made him accessible 24/7. There was no shut off switch from office emails. Change was harder to accept.

Why can't we just do it the old way?
It used to work before.
It will still work now.

Sam's new boss was 25 years old. He grew up with the internet. He had computers in his house since he could walk. Change was the only thing normal in his life.

Sam no longer could keep up to the kids. They were all quicker on the new technology than he was.

Sam was still smart. But a lot of the stuff he knew didn't matter in the way things were done now.

The work world had changed. And he didn't see it.

Then it hit him. He was exactly like Doug and John. He had kept current on the technology he understood. Until it passed him by.

Technology will always move faster than our willingness to learn it.

Unfortunately, our willingness slows down increasingly with age.