If you are my age or older, there was a time you used the newspaper as a source of information. You saved clippings. Read the funnies. A weeks worth of unread papers had it’s own special place in your home. You may have even had a paper route as a teenager – I did.
If you don’t know what a paper route is, it was a job most teenagers could handle. You got paid for each paper you delivered. The more papers you delivered they more you earned. It was a direct income job. You managed subscriptions, collected payment and managed your supply chain. You owned a route, usually in your own neighborhood. The first paper route I had was a daily newspaper. 7 days a week, everyday of the year including all holidays and bad weather. The second route I had was the Observer, which was only published twice a week. And if you don’t know what a newspaper is you are young.
My 8 year old nephew was recently grounded from the TV and other electronic devices. He is very passionate about his sport scores, stats and updates. Not just who won the game but his is interested in the details. It was killing him not to know how the game when last night. So we purchased a newspaper and an ice cream cone and we read the paper together. This was the first time he had seen the sports section of a national daily printed newspaper. He was surprised to see the stats and scores laid out on this huge piece of paper in black and white. He didn’t’ really know what a newspaper was or what information was available. My nephew’s generation has not yet been named but it will be a generation without the printed press. He is growing up in a culture of always digital, on-demand and real-time.
DIGITAL: Think of a watch or a thermometer, does it display analog where there are moving parts or have screen that displays digitally?
ON-DEMAND: As you requested.
REAL-TIME: A bank statement verses your bank activity.
In the business world the term real-time takes on a whole lot of controversy regarding data. A sales department may only be able to get reports on sales through last week. Yet there are real-time activities, such as bank activity transactions, that are available digitally and on-demand within minutes. So why the difference? It’s all in the way the systems are connected. Think about an ATM machine dispensing cold hard cash. The ATM is connected to many systems that quickly and accurately tell the ATM machine what it can and can’t do based on your id. And the pressure to have the information/data as quickly as possible as you stand there waiting can be priceless. The ATM calls multiple system for the most up to-date detailed information from all the systems about your account. It needs to know quickly: your password verification, how much money is available in your account, etc. IT folks build these system specifically to talk to each other and as quickly as possible. These are generally technology architecture, data strategies and network security. The faster you need the answer the tighter and more specific the code is to communicate to each other. Unlike a sales report that may need to gather large qualities of information, summarize it and than formate the report with colors and grids for the sales people to view. Today, if you were to withdraw all your money from your account and then try again to withdraw more money on another transaction, it is highly unlikely you will be able to. The systems are designed to be as updated as possible to prevent fraud and (hopefully) improve customer service. Much of this information is being used today.