ignoring the possibilities 16 of april, 1998 by johnmichael patrick monty monteith

Isn't the term "business world" interesting? Why the term "world" instead of "environment" or some other less dramatic word? In the last few years I have been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to experience the origin of this word. It truly is a different world. For starters, in the business world, it is perfectly okay for computers and computer software to be so complicated you need a PhD to use it. The entire culture has become so accustom to having long convoluted processes for the simplest of tasks that it never even occurs to the majority of these people that computers could actually make their lives easier rather than more difficult. These people walk blindfolded down the same path everyone before them has tread simply because they have no comprehension of how much better things could be. Yet the truly depressing thing about this is that all it would take is a little recognition by the computer industry that the real innovation for business has yet to come.

Not all areas of computing in the business world are still left in the King James IBM PC dark ages. There are some industries that have embraced the calling of the GUI (graphical user interface), help windows, animation, and rest of the modern computing niceties we all take for granted. For example, one of the first industries to be transformed was desktop publishing. Cropping articles and photos stopped having to involve scissors many years ago. Now desktop publishing is one of the most heavily computer dependent business industries around. Talk to anyone in the desktop publishing arena and you will soon find out how much their daily existence depends on the most cutting edge of technologies. Most importantly, however, the computer has made their job easier, and their output more impressive.

The same story can be seen in the video industry. Like desktop publishing, cutting a commercial used to require physical splicing of magnetic or photo media. Today it can all be done completely digitally, from shooting the image, editing, to transfer to tape. Admittedly the industry can and will go much further, but the process and the possibilities are already astounding. Those that are working in the video industry understand what technologies are available and how to use them. And they keep pushing the computing envelope by demanding more.

The same thing happened in both of these examples: the computer industry showed the business world that there was a better way. In the former example Apple Computer focused on the possibilities of merging desktop publishing with a computer when they released the Macintosh. The latter was pioneered by Commodore Business Machines with the introduction of the Amiga and later the dream was fully realized with the introduction of NewTek's VideoToaster. After the original pioneering company showed the world what was possible, other computer manufacturers and software companies followed suit (read sarcasm: Microsoft, the great innovator). In both of these examples it was the computer manufacturer that focused on the niche industry and carved themselves a spot.

Only after the businesses in these niche industries realized the possibilities with computers did they demand even better tools. All it took was a taste of how much easier their life could be, and suddenly that small niche industry has changed how they do everything.

Fortunately for hardware and software manufacturers, these two examples are two of only a handful of areas in the business world that have joined the modern age of computing. If Apple, Dell, Gateway, IBM, or any of these major computer manufacturers wanted to transform another area, all they need do is choose one and focus some energy.

How about an example. Why not focus on the health care industry? Is your primary health care provider still tracking you confidential medical information in a paper record? I bet they are. Imagine how much the health care industry could improve efficiency and ultimately the care they provide by moving to a fully electronic medical record? Sure, there are small independent software manufacturers that are attempting to lead the way, but in order to get the wide-scale adoption of modern technology, it will take a hardware manufacturer to take the initiative. Do what Apple did for desktop publishing in the medical record industry and you can sit back and watch the transformation happen nearly overnight.

There are simply far too many businesses waiting to be shown the right direction for integrating computers into their daily work. All a computer hardware manufacturer need do is stop, analyze, and then show the way. In fact, it is these niche industries that make or break a manufacturer. It is this so called "business world" that quickly adopted IBM PCs for use in their finance departments to replace many of the functions of main frame computers. Many of them are still using the same software with only slight modifications because nobody has shown them a better way.

There are literally thousands of business niche markets out there waiting to feel the improvement the computer industry can bring. Some of them are starting to see it. Telecommunications, desktop publishing, video, radio, and others. But many are still waiting. Eventually the technology will arrive. The question is: When and who is going to be the lucky company to lead the way?