This week:
Technology and Your Career

How important are computers and technology to your career? Will your learning curve be on a steady steep ascent? Could reliance on technology inhibit creativity?

Work & Money survey questions change each Wednesday.

Darkwolf: Actually... Very important considering that I am studying to be a systems analyst. As for inhibiting creativity, they should enhance creativity... A constantly changing canvas on which to paint life's dreams...

kronie: I believe there are three words that fully describe the role of technology in the future of careers: Technology is spiffy.

ridha: do we rely on this stuff for the next decade? I don't think so...someday we'll go back to the past, believe me....!!!

Convenience1: I find that I have to sit in front of my computer for at least a few hours each day. I'm comfortable with it, and I feel productive. Computer skills definitely have helped my career in marketing and finance. My learning curve has been slow and steady upward over the past 12 years, since I first used PCs and mainframes in grad school. I think it enhances creativity, not inhibits. I am taking more up to date courses in order to continue my career in marketing and finance, and I want to work with a high tech company here in the Silicon Valley (as opposed to the consumer product company I spent 7 years with before moving here to Northern California.)

DSKH: I will be a Computer Engineer. Computers and technology are extremely important to me. You'll have to rephrase the learning curve question. Too ambiguous. Technology could either be a crutch to rely on, or it can be a stepping stool to help you go beyond the realm of regular people, esp. MAC users. For me, it will help enhance my creativity, b/c I know that basically anything I want to do, I will soon achieve w/ technology.

rinc: So far my computer is a great communication and info tool..keeps me in touch with everybody who has one. But it makes me wonder about people who don't have one. As far as career, my learning curve is hardly curved.. it is straight up. Reliance inhibiting creativity?.. TV screen..yes Computer screen no...

mabourn: I am a law student at Hamline University in St Paul Minnesota. Computer aided research systems like Lexis and West Law turn hours of research into minutes. They give you the freedom to be creative.

rjnerd: I push bits for a living. I am particularly sensitive about technology as I am partially disabled (as a result of overuse of computers) -- It would be healthier for me if they weren't such a big part of my life.

mdulcey: I work in the computer field, so technology is obviously very important to my career. I expect that it will continue to be for the forseeable future. (Of course, forseeing anything past the next couple of years is really tough in this field!) For me, computers are the way I express my creative urges. Doing things with them (programming, drawing, writing) offers tools that wouldn't have existed without them, and my world would have been a poorer place. I hope I can manage to stay on an ascent in the learning curve; you have to. My career history has been one of continual reinvention. I'm currently an Internet expert and webmaster, something I obviously couldn't have done a few years ago. I don't have the faintest idea yet what I'll be doing in five years; it might not even have been invented yet. The scary thought is getting old. Will anyone have faith in a graying hacker?

jmatthan: Without the computer, work would be very local and uninspiring. Today, I work from my home, yet have suppliers and customers in evry corner of the globe. The purpose is to do things quickly and efficiently without knowing much about the computer and for the past 12 years. The Macintosh OS has helped me do just that. It is just not possible on an operating system like DOS/Windows which requires knowledge of computers - not for me!

chrisz: This same technology issue comes along every time a new thing comes up. Computers are here and we all need them (or soon will) to do certain things, but there's lots a computer can't do. But what they can do is link people together to share ideas (the purpose of this survey). As for creativity, computers and the internet provide more outlets for creativity to flourish - now there are more ways to express creativity - more canvases to paint on...

Kimmy: Actually, computers and technology are central to my career plans. Currently, I work in the computer industry, so there's that obvious connection, but my future goals, even though the content of what I want to do (teach second language acquisition principles to educators) has nothing to do with technology, the means to the work environment I want (work from home out in the boonies in northern Saskatchewan, and from Mexico for half of the year) has everything to do with new technology!

KMorrison: According to my boss, not at all. But I believe that because of computers, and due to his opposition to progress, someday he'll be working for me! (I hope...)

ericish: I re-refine used oil for a living.I love my PC and it enchances creativity...but physical action is still required in the real world.You can draft a home on a PC very fast...but it will not become real unless a mind and hands combine.Robots are another story.

TJNeuron: I view technology as a wonderful thing. Just as anything else, it can be viewed pessimistically or optimistically. My career and my life is affected in major ways by technology. I welcome change and what technology has in store for us, and hope to live a long life so I may see as much as possible.

elwoodblues: here in Germany computer banking and telebanking became really popular. my father's company is using it, and I 'm also using it. Since I decided to make my baking by computer, I've never been to a bank. I just used ATMs and my terminal.

adair: Since I'm getting my PhD in Computer Science (Computer Vision/Medical Imaging), computers are utterly essential to my career, whether I end up in academia or industry. No matter how flat, there will always be some learning curves that I avoid climbing. Heck, I'm still using vi after 11 years.
I don't think technology affects creativity, but mind-numbing reliance on anything can.

Althia: I'm an artist/writer/designer, thus computers play a big part in my fields. I use computers to design/edit graphics, store images that I may wish to add to documents and my WWW site,etc.. My writing -style- is fine, but I don't think I would be able to live without spell check for my short stories.
For artists, they are a wonderful creative outlet that isn't killing trees. I can create as many images as I like without having guilt nag at me. And as a comunications tool... in one hour I can find at least 100 online 'zines that are looking for short fiction, and start submitting to them via e-mail.
Could a reliance on tech' inhibit my creativity/creativity in general? All depends on how you look at it. I find that if anything, computers enhance my creativity. I can skew pictures into different shapes, colours, effects and perspectives with the easy of a touch of a button, allowing me to see nearly instantaneous results.
However I do agree with the idea that one day we as a people may become -too- dependent on technology. Just look at that toilet they invented that is, shall we say, -self cleaning- , if you know what I mean... If a person allows their life to be handled by their phones and computers and televisons, and household automation systems, then yes, I can see a down side. But if we use them responsibly, and understand that they are a tool to -aid- us instead of doing everything -for- us, then I think technology could be a wonderful thing.

vdamle: They are extremely important for my career. I work as a trader on the stock market where I have to use a computer at least 8 hrs. a day. Technology gives me the tools I want and which help me in my job.

weekapaug: Computers and technology are key to what I want to do. It's driven mostly by realizing what I liked to do in my last job--play with the computers. This had always been true, but I wasn't paying attention.
This led next to doing my own multimedia work, and then on to the Web. Naturally :-)
Then I went to business school and got a dose of it from another side--the impact of information (computers and technology) on business, particularly marketing. The "marketing information revolution" if you will. Part of this is direct mail and junk mail, but more is using information to transform all aspects of business. Look at Wal-Mart as an example of changing retail by focusing on distribution. In many cases, a purchase in a store triggers the manufacturer to make one more unit and ship it to the store. No warehousing.
To me, technology is a tool. While you can fall into the trap of using technology for its own sake (ever done Powerpoint), to me, it's a creativity catalyst. I love to play and create, whether it's in Photoshop or Excel. Cool graphics grabs one side of my brain, large spreadsheet models another. I hold both are highly creative, using the computer to help you picture reality.
The challenge is to keep up. This is where "life-long" learning comes in. I know a lot now, but how long will this last? And once I start working, will I have time? Like to surf around or just play with software, for this is how you learn so much. It's your future, but you're so caught in the day-to-day.

SimpleSimon: In short I couldn't do my job without Tech and the toys it brings...i am an Assistive Technologist..which means i find new ways for people to use Tech. It could be a special keyboard or speech outputs.

glendale: My main vocation at work is designing and developing computer software, and working with other persons who do that, too.

merdoc: As a road tech for my company, we're seeing metric conversion requirements in Alabama. Computers will help in planning for roads and closer tolerance to plans will make our work a better buy for the state and others. Also the employee that learns skills that employ computer/net use will be ahead of the game.

thought: Well...presently I am a student, however, technology will and has been a big part in my life and will be the focus of my career because I'm studying computer Engineering. As far as technology inhibiting creativity, I must say never, technology gives us a chance to be even more creative...I cannot even think of a way in which it limits creativity...
Steep learning curve? you bet! that's what I have found life to be all about...learning...and I'm lucky to live in a very neat time to learn...I can learn w/ the whole world through today's communications...

JackM: Career (DC); not important. Health care business; helpful.

RHealey: Extremely important since I will start college in January '97 to become a computer technician. I want to learn electronics engineering with a minor in computer tech!

glendale: My main vocation at work is designing and developing computer software, and working with other persons who do that, too. I often find myself having to learn new things in order to do my work -- and not just the user interfraces of new software tools and/or hardware paltforms -- also learning new terminology and concepts, and trying to adjust to new paradigms where that is sorta mandated by the company I work for -- or by the situations I find myself in when I'm doing "other" stuff, outside of work. Could reliance on technologhy inhibit creativity? I don't know what you mean here. I could see how, perhaps, if a person were financially broke, then focusing attention on short-term problem solving might (I am not saying for sure!) inhibit creativity. Are you trying to refer to something like that, perhaps?

Lunatic: Technology! Like a lot of people, computers are very important to my career as a Computer Scientist and Engineer. However, there are two (or more) arguments, or situations rather, as to whether they help or not.
One argument is the obvious one: Duh! Of course they help! They make work faster, let you store more information in a more organized fashion (sometimes), and on and on. This is usually the argument of those that know how to use computers, or at least know they're basic functions and capabilities.
The second argument is more like a situation having two sides, each one in themselves having separate arguments, and it is best stated as a question: Do computers help you to understand your career better?
The first side goes along with the first argument stated above. However, the second side asks yet another question (ahhhh, not another one, get me out of this maze!): What do we mean by 'understand'?
If we just want to be able to understand enough to do the job, then I would have to say computers are very helpful, because I understand enough about them to be able to write this message and send it along so the whole world can see it (if they chance upon this site). But...let's look at a Math problem scenario:
Given a math problem (2 X 3; sorry, didn't want to get too complicated), a computer, a computer math program, and the know-how, we can solve for the math problem by plugging it into the program and let it do all the work. Fine! But how was the problem done? When you plug it in, do you understand how you got the output? You may understand the answer (it's a number), but do you understand the process? Yeah, computers help you immensely. They are very beneficial in giving you an output, but they aren't always great at helping you to understand. This is what technology does. It creates levels upon levels of abstraction, until after time, we forget exactly what we're doing. Push a button and the whole world explodes into chaos.

megan_coughlin: Well, at the moment, I'm working in software development, so I'd say that my reliance on technology is pretty darn high. But in reality, I'm a teacher. There are a lot of issues about the use of technology in the classroom, but I definitely think that I fail as a teacher if I don't give my students the power to use technology wisely. A lot of kids don't have computers at home, and unfamiliarity often breeds fear and reluctance to use computer technology; so I think that it's my responsibility to teach them that they can learn to use any operating system they come across, and that they can learn to use it wisely. Furthermore, e-mail and the Web have put a premium on the ability to write well, quickly, and to have your words propagated to large numbers of people -- whether in your own workplace or over the Web -- which means that I had better teach them to take advantage of these media and to use technology to aid their writing. And I'm one who wouldn't touch a computer until late in college!