Twenty years ago and even now, we could ask, what would the average business do without the photocopier? Since its modern invention in 1949 then called, the Xeroxing machine, and now a portable space efficient device for small and large businesses – is a mega-technology that has changed even what governments can know about us.
“According to experts, several printer companies quietly encode the serial number and manufacturing code of their color laser printers and color copiers on every document those machines produce.” No, it’s not a scene from a crime thriller novel.
In terms of revenue, owner of the CopierSupplystore.com, Bruce Cooperman says of the copier machine and supply impact, “the total revenue in this market could potentially reach $500 million by 2015 and $1 billion by 2020. The copy machine business and supply industry, despite the continued growth of internet and technology, continues to be a central innovation for businesses worldwide.
So, how has the Internet as a product changed how Americans work? According to the Pew Research Center, 8 percent of Americans “are frequent users of the internet—especially at work—and they link the use of their extensive suite of information devices to personal productivity and workplace effectiveness.” This group researchers call the productivity enhancers.
As compared to the productivity enhancers, the largest group of internet consumers called the ominvores represent 8 percent of Americans, consume information “goods and services at a high rate” as a platform for participation and self-expression. “
In the work environment, it seems the rate of internet use is connected with interaction with co-workers. For example, “employed Americans who have more interactions with their co-workers tend to use the internet more frequently at work. Fully 61 percent of supervisors use the internet at work constantly or several times a day.”
Perhaps the most revealing statistics is that “ the overwhelming majority of wired and ready workers say that the internet, email, cell phones and instant messaging has improved their ability to do their job by 80 percent.” Here are some other facts compiled by the Pew about internet connectivity on the job,
- The frequency of internet use at work varies by company type and profession
- Employed Americans own more gadgets for working on the go
- Americans juggle work and email accounts as the lines between personal and professional communication continue to blur
- Text messaging is mostly personal
- Higher paying jobs require more attention to email
- In recent years , workers have become more likely to check their email outside of normal working hours
- Employed Americans in the top earning brackets are the most wired workers
These facts pose lots of questions about the future of work and surely about the change of the nature of work now and in the near future.
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