Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and I was thinking about some of the things I’m thankful for when doing business everyday. Of course I’m thankful for the great people I work with, my family for putting up with me and for all the customers I can help. But I’m also thankful for all the technology I use.
Sometimes using technology can be a real headache, especially when something doesn’t work and you have a deadline in 5 minutes. But most of the time, I’m amazed at how well things work. I remember the old days before using a computer, but I can’t think how we actually got things done. Does anyone really remember what business was like before the Internet?
We all use technology to work and play and a lot of it has made life easier. Here are a few people and things I’m thankful for that make business easier.
- Charles Babbage for creating a machine that lead to the modern computer
- Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce for inventing the microchip
- Hedy Lamarr for designing a frequency-hopping system that is the basis for Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and cell phones
- Claude Shannon for developing the mathematics of modern cryptography
- Xerox PARC for developing the first windows system and mouse
- Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the Internet
- Smartphones and tablets
- GPS and boarding passes on my phone
- YouTube for letting me share videos with anyone
- Fasoo for keeping my documents safe and secure
- Twitter for letting me get a quick pulse on the world and what interests me
- LinkedIn for letting me engage customers and interesting people
- Skype for letting me talk to my business partners from anywhere
- SMS and IM for all the quick things I need to get done
- Steve Jobs for showing me how to cut to the chase in a presentation
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and let me know what you are thankful for.
Photo credit Amber McNamara
