One of the value propositions of the internet is that any organization can reach a wide audience in a matter of minutes.  The internet obviously can be used for marketing, selling and teaching and learning on an endless amount of subject matter.

What started out as a novel idea back in the early nineties has now turned into mainstream media where audiences everywhere want access and results 24/7 and 365 days of the year.  People use the internet to gain instant information when they want it, how they want it and when they want it.  Marketers have learned that new “media beast” has a voracious appetite and messages must serve up to the intended audience in a variety of different ways.  Educators have learned to adapt as well.  Training is no longer an event but an ongoing process delivered in a variety of platforms.

Technology is a wonderful enabler that allows users everywhere to have the information they need without the constraints of being tied to a desk.  For the first time in history mobile phones are on pace to outsell PC’s which alerts everyone to the fact we are not only a mobile society but work habits are changing as well.  Organizations are finally coming to terms with the reality that everyone has to be in an office to be productive.

The evolution of the microwave society of today – where everyone wants everything instantly presents a unique set of challenges as well.  Technology can fail just like any other piece of equipment can fail and it never ceases to amaze me the intolerance that certain individual have when it does fail.  Not only can technology itself fail the development applications that are being used to produce outstanding presentations or learning modules can fail as well so the failure problem can easily turn into a complex scenario.

Recently the organization that I am working with was under contract to produce an interactive learning module with avatars for delivery for mobile technology in an extremely short amount of time.  This process is very do-able but it is time-intensive.  Not a very good answer for the client that wants delivery instantly on anything we do.  Speed is great – but remember speed can kill creativity, quality testing and the entire project and reviews are adhered to.

Here is the point.  Technology is a great enabler and so are the tools that developers use to create applications that run on the internet.  Technology changes quickly and many technologies are often in beta stage.  When they work everyone is happy but when they do not there is usually someone pointing a finger to either the provider, developer or both.

My suggestion to those clients who are looking to have cutting-edge applications to be built quickly to develop some patience and realize your development team wants to do the very best job that they can and that with new technologies everything does not always work exactly as planned the first time.  This is why good developers have established quality control gates to make sure what they deliver works the way that is envisioned and technological glitches are kept to the bare minimum if any at all.

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