ACP Pubs

Steve Hudson

Ain't Technology Wonderful?
February 6, 2008

So it really is a brave new world out there. Technology is changing the way we do everything, including managing construction businesses and keeping track of sheepdogs.

You probably already know about managing construction, but odds are you're not quite on top of the subject of managing sheepdogs. So I'll bring you up to speed.

Chester the resident sheepdog, brave soul that he is, recently consented (more or less) to allow his doggy self to be secretly and surreptitiously labelled with one of those neat little ID chips that are supposed to make lost dogs a thing of the past. And he thought he was just going in to get a little trimming and brushing. Fooled him!

Afterwards, on the way back to the car, as he sat there in the front seat all high-teched and everything, he seemed a little bit unsure of it all.  I could see his concern, so I asked him about it.

"What's the deal, Doglet?" I said. That's what I call him in informal situations. I think it's kind of endearing, in a fuzzy doggy sort of way, and he doesn't seem to mind.

He looked at me like he wasn't quite sure, since the odds of him ever getting lost are pretty close to zero because he never goes outside off the leash. He looked at me as if to say, "Why didn't we just go with the trimming and brushing thing? I would have been pretty happy with that. But now," he continued, "I have this up-close-and-personal relationship with technology. And I was perfectly happy before, as you well know. Well, except maybe for the  tangled hair behind my right ear."

"Yes,"  I said, "you do look much more regal with the tangled hair gone. But the technology really wasn't so bad, was it? Maybe you'll learn to love it. And who knows? If you really get into it, maybe we'll even put a DVD player by your doggie bed and you can watch reruns of 'Lassie' or chase virtual sheep across Internet fields!" 

I was waxing poetic there -- people do that when they talk to sheepdogs while riding in old red pickup trucks through urban pastureland -- but Chester wasn't impressed.

He looked over my way one more time, clearly thinking "We'll see," and then looked out the window of the little red truck to gaze longingly at some sheep in a pasture we were passing on the way home. 

Yes, we were actually passing sheep standing out in a field. Like sheep everywhere, they were just standing there, no doubt waiting for some sheepdog to come and herd 'em up. That's what sheep do -- they stand around a lot and wait to be herded. 

Chester seemed ready to volunteer for the herding job then and there, right on the spot. Me, I found myself wondering if those were high-tech sheep, also implanted with ID chips designed to thwart sheep rustlers and the like. Are there still sheep rustlers? Are they still a problem? Would they come and steal those sheep, and would said sheep subsequently need to be found and identified and returned home some day? I looked at Chester to see if he could tell, but he had apparently moved on to new ideas and was curled up halfway to sleep as the little red truck rolled merrily toward home.

I'm not sure what Chester will end up doing with his new-found microchip, but technology is here and it's come to the world of sheepdogs.

It's come to construction too. Will it change the way we do things? In many areas it already has. You don't have to look long or far to see how it's impacted equipment operation, bidding, business management, hiring, bookkeeping, reporting, and on and on and on.

Now, with tools like this new "blogging" thing, it may impact the way we communicate. If you've found your way here you already know something about it. If you haven't then of course you're not part of the dialog yet, but they say there's still plenty of time.

So like Chester we'll see what happens. Will the blog universe become the new water cooler, the new networking session, the new pickup truck tailgate where contractors gather?

Like Chester and his chip, and maybe like those sheep, we'll see where it leads us. We'll see where it goes.

Posted by Steve Hudson on February 6, 2008 | Comments (0)