When there is an app for everything, and many of them are free, we overindulge at times. Depending on how old you are, you might remember (as I do) the old days when there were very few software applications for our personal use, and each one of them was expensive. Borland Software came out with a model where applications that were previously hundreds of dollars, were then $30 to $50 and we thought that was stellar. Today as I mentioned many of the apps we use are free, and a large chunk are now somewhere between $.99 and $10. I used to have apps just on my laptop or desktop, and now I have them on a mobile device, an iPad and my laptop, and I need them to be synced in real time. I used to spend 90% of my time using Microsoft Office, and email client, and a browser. Times have changed.

I also used to dread loading and unloading applications on my Windows based system because it invariably cluttered the OS and I had to blow away the whole system and reinstall periodically just to keep it running OK. Now I have a Mac, iPhone, and iPad and can install, and delete with the click of a button without damaging the performance at all. In other words, there is no practical reason, nor financial barrier, between me and the installation of five apps a day just to see which ones might provide value. Add to this all the cloud based hosted applications I can now just run over a browser without any installation, and you have a recipe for a few new dynamics that are intriguing…

The first is that we now have the ability to build a tool box full of applications that help us have a better quality of life, and perform at much more productive levels in our career. A massive toolbox for some of us – oh and we are still in the early days of Web-based tool development. The toolbox we each build will have an increasing impact on our ability to succeed. This toolbox will define how we network, how we subsume information and learn, and how productive we are when we perform a task. I already judge young potential employees by their ability to use the tools they have assembled. I have no patience for someone that is behind the curve with their hardware, or software. It seems crude to me that someone would play the game without the best equipment – kind of like a golfer that shows up at the course with boots on, and six clubs in a ratty bag.

The second dynamic I find interesting is the difference with the young generation versus the old in how willing they are to use new tools. I worry about anyone over 40 years old that has any resistance to using the latest gear and experimenting with new apps. I am getting weary of older people telling me all the reasons why young people overdo their technology addiction when the truth is a younger person with a great tech toolbox is becoming more valuable that an older person with experience and weak tools.

Which leads me to the next dynamic, the interesting situation that occurs when someone falls behind in using the latest tools. Today, if you take a year off from upgrading your hardware and software, you will lose touch with the shared tools that many people will pick up. Not being able to use shared and collaboration tools when needed decimates your value because no one cares how smart you are if you cannot share it. Once upon a time, I would not hire someone that did not know how to use MS Office tools. Today the list is much longer. For example if I ask you to Skype me and you tilt your head at me like my confused Labrador, we have problems. Same thing if I tell you to add your idea to Basecamp, or to setup a new column in Tweetdeck.

I guess you can look at the world as a place where you are overwhelmed with the options we have for applications, or you can revel in the fact that we live in a time with an explosion of tools. One thing for sure, the quantity of tools, and the sophistication level is not going to drop any time soon. I suggest we all build personal strategies for keeping up on the latest, and most beneficial new tools coming out and invest the time to relevant. The alternative is a man/woman child will blow by us.

Scott Klososky
Scott@klososky.com