The most popular gripe about technology - It takes too long for vendors to deliver new stuff

By Art Gillis

That's what bankers are saying, and I can't blame them because the world is turning into a real-time environment. Everyone is living in an instant time cycle. If you think there's a solution to a problem, you want to see it right away. But I see something else. There are two parts to how long something takes. 1. Transactions occur in nanoseconds. 2. Personnel-based work efforts take forever.

It's the second category that gets all the gripes. For example, when has Microsoft delivered a new product on the original scheduled date? When has a major (or your own kitchen renovation) construction project been completed on the promised date? When has a war ended before people started to squawk? When did the Wright Amendment Repeal allow you to fly non-stop on a Southwest Airlines flight to San Francisco? Some things just take forever. And the culprit is people. What technology does in nanoseconds, people have to conform to Gantt charts that are plotted in years or even decades.

So relax. Back in the seventies, we knew it was unwise to burn a lot of gas. So we took to SUV's in the nineties to burn more gas. Now we want gas for a buck a gallon and 50 miles to the gallon. It's a long way off. The answer is: Use wisely what you already have.