We’re a funny lot, us IT people. Odd. An anomaly if you will. Sure, we all like good pay, it allows us to buy those gadgets we thrive on. How would we play games of technological one-upmanship with our colleagues if we didn’t have the latest graphics card, games console, MP4 player or laptop? Our social status depends on a healthy ego bolstering boost of great gadgetry.
But where else in industry would you find people who would rather have a great piece of equipment to do their work on? Do farmers out-do each other with bigger and better tractors? Do artists have to have the latest brushes?
It seems our social status at work thrives on having a better, higher spec, faster PC or bigger monitor than our co-workers. Why? It says we’re appreciated by management, we do a good job. In short, we are worthy of it.
Unlike sales and marketing people, we tend to shun public acknowledgement of our achievements. Not for us the annual sales bash where we get to proudly stand up in front of the sales force to be feted with bonuses and adored by many. We prefer our credit to be more subtle, more personal. Having a dual core processor badge or a 21″ flat screen is the way to our hearts. And the best of it is, it’s all tax deductible. Maybe it’s something to do with that engineering mindset that Dilbert’s always on about….?
What would I have? Plenty of memory and a decent sized screen. Why? It makes me more productive as I can see everything I need to see at once and I don’t have to wait whilst application memory is slowly paged out to disk. It makes me happier in my job because I hate boredom, so I’m more productive. My employer gets more from me in less time. All for very little cost. It probably pays for itself in a week.
Given the choice, what would be the one piece of kit you’d yearn to have on your desk?
But where else in industry would you find people who would rather have a great piece of equipment to do their work on? Do farmers out-do each other with bigger and better tractors? Do artists have to have the latest brushes?
It seems our social status at work thrives on having a better, higher spec, faster PC or bigger monitor than our co-workers. Why? It says we’re appreciated by management, we do a good job. In short, we are worthy of it.
Unlike sales and marketing people, we tend to shun public acknowledgement of our achievements. Not for us the annual sales bash where we get to proudly stand up in front of the sales force to be feted with bonuses and adored by many. We prefer our credit to be more subtle, more personal. Having a dual core processor badge or a 21″ flat screen is the way to our hearts. And the best of it is, it’s all tax deductible. Maybe it’s something to do with that engineering mindset that Dilbert’s always on about….?
What would I have? Plenty of memory and a decent sized screen. Why? It makes me more productive as I can see everything I need to see at once and I don’t have to wait whilst application memory is slowly paged out to disk. It makes me happier in my job because I hate boredom, so I’m more productive. My employer gets more from me in less time. All for very little cost. It probably pays for itself in a week.
Given the choice, what would be the one piece of kit you’d yearn to have on your desk?
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