The future of work in the information age

I was fascinated to read how robots will have their own operating systems to enable them to fully utilise their specialisms. Which got me on to thinking about how robots will be used and what they will be used for. Technology is advancing at such a rapid rate it is some how mind boggling to think how anyone manages to keep up with it all.

I was then thinking about where will all this lead. Inevitably as technologies advance their evolves a division of labour i.e. work becomes more diverse and specialised, new roles emerge and older ones become extinct. It is now suggested that individuals will experience three or four careers in their lifetimes, good news I think for it certainly will make life more interesting. Long gone are the jobs where after ten years you will find yourself in the same position.

Inevitably more and more people will need to become self employed and self relient as the newest fads evolve and the oldest ones diminish. But hold on catch your breath for one second. Do we really need development at such a rapid pace? When people are looking within themselves and find that their quality of life over the so-called rat race is becoming increasingly important. I think it is simply a paradigm shift driven by technology with society adjusting to accommodate the new information age.

So what about the robots and where does it leave us? The optimist will argue that robots will take the heavy labour away from the low level jobs and enable people to develop their creative side and lead more satisfying lives. The pessimist will argue that their will be no need for humans to carry out work and that we will be left redundant.

Their needs to be a significant shift in the whole system. This has initially seen a divergence in the development of technologies. On the one hand you have the creative commons - the loony left you might say and on the other hand the conservative right - the money makers seeking a financial reward for their labour. As in other business realms where you find the for profit and the not for profit interests the same games will be played within these new technologies.

The two faces of facebook

Social websites such as facebook are going through an evolution if not a revolution in the age of twenty-four hour business and the information age.

When I first joined facebook you looked up old friends chatted about old times and kept in touch. It seems however facebook is changing and it has to change for we are now in the information age where business is conducted twenty-four hours a day, and why not? So facebook and other social networking sites are prime targets for people to promote their businesses and other interests. This is an inevitable evolution of the pleasant land that social networking sites held.

We are all ready to accept applications to see how much of Michael Jackson you know or what type of car you are but behind these funny games there lies a deeper desire to do what is inevitable and thats to receive a reward for sharing information with friends or otherwise.

You only have to look in the property section of publications such as The Mail on Sunday to see how people are moving to all corners of the globe to live the life they had always wanted to. David and Mary in Kenya, David and Celia moving to Cornwalls Kensington and Jean-Christophe with Michelle forgetting the Rolls Royce and the Rolex and moving to their new home in Spain.

So when you are accepting the next fad for finding out your real star sign or finding out your IQ dont forget that its also a business working twenty-four hours a day.