I was in Chicago a few weeks back and I remebered that the men on the Metra Train platforms dont carry Leather Briefcases like they used to. Same thing on Metro North. Matter of fact it has become increasing rare to to see “The men with 3 peice suits carrying brief cases with a hint of importance”. Is this a indication of changing styles or a change in buisnesss climate?
I think it’s a change of climate. I work as a software engineer for a large avionics and communications corporation here, and the prevalence of suits and ties has decreased quite a bit in the last couple of years. Even our CEO leaves the tie off when he gives the state of the company pitch every year.
Old Technology = Breifcase
New Technology = Laptop
Old Importance=Cellphone
New Importance=Blackberry
The PDA (“Palm Pilot”) had a part in that, too.
Then there are the Blackberries that are also phones…
Palm pilot ? how 90’s! [:0] those are SO passe now[;)], old technology akin to a pocket calculator…[:(]
Nowadays noone respects you unless you have the Cellphone/PDA/MP3/almost-a-laptop Blackberry setup along with the military type laptop that can be dropped from a 2 story building and still function perfectly, oh and dont forget the fingerprint ID logon option…thats a big hit hit the ladies in line at Starbucks these days.
now if they will just figure out what to do with all the stuff in a woman’s purse so she doesn’t have to lug it around!
On second thought - where will male companion’s wallet and keys go? And the pills for a headache. And the kleenex, cuz it’s allergy season. And the spare car key cuz “oops”…and…
Nevermind!
If you’re "with it, " you carry a laptop, and access you papers online at a server at the office or at home. No decent laptop fits in the typical briefcase. Instead you carry it in a leather or fabric case.
Your not “with it” then, as your still tied with a ball and chain to your server to get online[;)], the “hipper-than-thou” now use wireless internet connections for everything, even at home, simply because they can.[;)][8D][:o)]
Well, take it from somebody who uses a laptop frequently (I am typing this on my laptop right now), but need a case of some sort to carry the laptop and cell phone (unless I want to keep the cell phone on my hip like all the others). You can never travel and take papers, files, etc. with you, not even your laptop, without some sort of case. Actually, my Dell laptop came with a nice leather (spelled IMPORTANT) case.
I guess I am old school then. Still have the leather briefcase, usually in the car when I go in on appointments. It generally carries all my files needed for the day. MOst of the time, I dont take it in with me on appointments.
Five years ago, I ALWAYS carried a briefcase. It was an unwritten rule of sales. Today, I carry a planner/notebook, with perhaps the file inside.
Regarding corporate attire…they let the genie out of the bottle 12 years ago with “casual fridays”. it soon became casual summers and then suits went away.
I doubt if the suit will return, at least in the corporate world. Financial people, attorneys, etc. still wear them.
ed
Funny I have always found men in suits and briefcases very sexy[:I][:I]
My point, exactly. Pretty soon you’ll see people who seem to be staring at you when they are actually reading the computer screen projected on their glasses… I read some time ago about a guy who designed “keyboards” for his bicycle that allowed him to type while he rode, without taking his hands off the handlebars. Actually IIRC it may have been a tricycle, and he was travelling cross country, even towing a trailer…
…right off a cliff as he was text-messaging someone on how he was doing…[(-D][(-D][(-D]
Sorry, my “stuff” requires a real-time server feed for financial data. Some apps require a ball and chain.
I’m not knocking you…I think those “give me wireless or give me death” techno-nutjobs are insane! Thiers no way in H-E double hockey sticks I’d ever put my financial information over a wireless connection.[:p]
I have a PSP, MP3, and a cell phone. No need for a Blackberry or whatever they are. The PSP has Bluetooth for up to 50 foot range from my desktop PC, so I can play online games. It can also be used as an MP3 too…[:p]
Blackberry = email on the run. You haven’t lived until you’ve answered an email from your boat while you’re fishing (or pick your own “I thought I was here to get away from it all” location). Wrong…[:(!] Makes text messaging on a cell phone look positively archaic. Many of the people I know who use Blackberry’s seem to be glued to them.
You stay up nights and think this stuff up don’t you??? [;)]
For a minute there I thought I had logged on to “Ask Andy’s Fashion Forum.” I bring up railroading there as well.
Mitch
I hauled a briefcase for the cargo papers and logs for years. Only way to ensure all the papers stayed on one spot the entire trip. Only exception is hazmat ladings go into the side door pocket.
I used a laptop the last two years of driving. It was constantly on with a GPS navigation so I never needed directions as long I had the correct address. The Qualcomm was a total communication system.
Then I had a cellphone and various media and connections so I could disassemble the phones at either hotel or truckstop and go on line. Some areas like west central Oklahoma used radio to transmit phone calls and did not support internet. (Imagine that)
There is enough technology in place now when used properly sky scrapers and massive infrastructure is obselete. We can do our work from any where as long we can connect to all others in the staff.
We are seeing Dishes capable of staying locked onto dishnetwork while on the move and soon to stay locked to the internet (With a 1-2 second latency… but yer not playing video games anyway at work)
In school we just carried a memory stick and a few peices of paper and some cd’s No backpacks. If we needed that homework that we left on our home computer, a simple remote connection from the school transferred it right to the teacher on his or her computer. No need to run home to get it or suffer a 0 grade.
I completed about 6 semesters of college and maybe touched 50 sheets of paper the whole time. That is about it. Everything else was digital.