Posted by msmash from the blast-from-the-past dept.
Some executives are embracing old technology like dumbphones and fax machines, seeking digital detox and prioritizing focus. They see these vintage tools as power moves, allowing them to control their time and avoid constant distractions, WSJ writes in a story. These bosses believe old tech enhances leadership, enabling them to be present and productive.
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Are these the same bosses that insist we be on call 24/7 and if we dare take a moment to ourselves we should lose our jobs? What’d be a power-move is telling the entire organization they’re off the 24/7 leash cycle. What they’re doing is trying to remove themselves from a world that’s become scary and frightening to them by retreating from the technology that’s flooding our lives every moment of the day and sometimes the night as well. It’s the act of cowards, heading back to the relative peace of non-tech
I believe the Executive motto is “Do as I say, not as I do”. At the corporate level, there’s this:
“‘Money before people.’ That’s the company motto – engraved right there on the lobby floor. It just looks more heroic in Latin.”
— Veronica Palmer [wikipedia.org] (Portia de Rossi), Better Off Ted [wikipedia.org], “Racial Sensitivity” (S1:E4)
The 1% personality types which gravitate to working 7 days exclusively for the company need to be always on. It’s in their personality.
The need to lead, dominate, influence positively and negatively and directly see the effects on the subordinates is part of this monomania.
Are these the same bosses that insist we be on call 24/7
Well, only the _really_ hardcore bosses who will be fully reverting to stone age tribal conditions where you all live together in a cave. However, I suspect this stupid management fad will be short lived when thy realize how bosses were chosen and could be replaced in stone age times….
I just had an issue with my medical insurance. From the letter they sent, any further dispute on my part could be pursued by FAXing my written . . . . freaking fax! They probably hadn’t updated their “claim denial” letter for 20 years.
They’re not lazy, they are purposely making it difficult for you to dispute their refusal.
Faxing medical records is secure, provides audit logs, and is allowed specifically by law.
You can’t intercept a fax without having physical access to the phone line used which makes it a very risky endeavor and federal wiretap laws have teeth.
Faxing medical records is secure, provides audit logs, and is allowed specifically by law. You can’t intercept a fax without having physical access to the phone line used which makes it a very risky endeavor and federal wiretap laws have teeth.
Is that really true anymore? A lot of places use multifunction devices that can print and scan over the network, in addition to being plugged into a phone line for faxes.
They are not intentionally trying to make it difficult. Federal law restricts how medical records can be sent, fax is the least expensive and easy method allowed (other methods include EDI and secure portals, ie ssl/tls). Fax being point to point communications cannot be intercepted easily. Though HIPPA does require precautions to be taken on the receiving end to ensure confidentiality. Email is not allowed.
Faxing is HIPAA compliant. Itâ(TM)s a true direct to direct secure way of sending a confidential document. That is why millions of faxes are still used in the world of health care, legal, and others. An email, SMS and many other app services of communication will never be secure as my paper scanning from my machine down a signal to your machine DIRECTLY to print. It is impossible to spy or drop in on an analog fax signaling handshake. Therefore no carrier or person in the middle could carbon copy a fax
I’m not an executive, but I am a senior-level manager and deal with distractions all the time. There are simple solutions:
– Use Do Not Disturb
– Don’t install Teams or work email on your phone
– If your coworkers need to reach you, ask them to text or call if it’s an emergency.
– If they do call, refer them to someone else who can help.
– If there is no one you can refer them to, this is a problem to solve. Train someone. The company does not revolve around *you.*
– Take your PTO.
– When you take our PTO, don’t…work.
Maybe not all of these things work for every leader, but the point is, set boundaries and stick to them. If you are not able to set and maintain boundaries, maybe you shouldn’t be in management.
– Don’t install Teams or work email on your phone
Not always an option, especially if it’s a employer-provided phone.
But DO turn off alerts when you aren’t “on the clock” or “on call.” If it’s a employer-provided phone, just turn it off when you aren’t required to answer it.
Not always an option, especially if it’s a employer-provided phone.
If it’s an employer-provided phone, you generally won’t have a choice of opting for a dumbphone anyway. Heck, one of my friends constantly laments the fact that his work issued him an iPhone because he hates iPhones. Of course, that means he has to carry around two phones when he’s on the clock.
This article is about decision makers not people who are still at level 1 or 2 taking in company provided phones. I couldnâ(TM)t imagine doing any of that, do you have to ask the boss for permission to listen to music on those things too? Get out find a startup or a corporation that isnâ(TM)t treating you like a child lmao
Those are good tips for anyone: separate work and time off. I am fine with doing overtime, being called during the evenings or my days off, doing some prep work at home for the next work day, and so on. Small things to ensure things keep running smoothly. But the moment the workload increases beyond normal, that’s when I stick to a strict boundary between work time and free time. Overtime might still be on the table, but all the other things: nope. It might sound a bit odd to stop being flexible just w
But the moment the workload increases beyond normal, that’s when I stick to a strict boundary between work time and free time.
Of course, /r/Antiwork over on Reddit is full of stories where the employer finally decides to call that bluff by threatening the worker with a pink slip. A nice work/life balance sounds nice, but at the end of the day it’s still comes down to your boss either granting you that freedom, otherwise it’s off to the want ads looking for a new job.
Yeah, overtime is fine and necessary at times. But when it’s a constant, that’s when it’s a problem. When you work 80 hour weeks all the time just to keep up, that’s a sure sign that you need to hire someone to work 40 of those hours. And if the company won’t do that, that’s not *your* problem to solve, that’s the *company’s* problem. They hired one of you, do one person’s job, not two.
But how are you suppose to cry for attention doing “look at me!” stuff if you take a responsible approach to your job?
Yep, that would be a problem! And if you’re so concerned about this, then you’re bringing the problem on yourself.
Maybe this is the real reason these people are using dumbphones and faxes…it brings them the attention they crave.
Then you are really in trouble.
However, what this really screams is, “I don’t have proper boundaries or self control”.
The only people that my phone notify me for is my wife and my kids. That’s it. *EVERYTHING* else can wait until I decide to intentionally check my phone.
With one exception, sometimes people specifically ask me to pay attention (emergency situation, friends traveling etc…)
While at the mall (yeah, there’s still one of those around where I live), I noticed Metro selling a dumbphone [metrobyt-mobile.com] and was curious about it because it seemed like such an archaic throwback. Looked up the specs on it (using my iPhone, of course) and it turns out it’s actually just running a hamstrung version of Android under the hood.
The likely reason is that here in the USA all the major cell providers have shut down their 3G networks, so a phone has to support LTE at a minimum or it won’t even work. This mean
Nokia/HMD launch feature phones that support 4G LTE and use their classical S30+ operating system.
Since 24 April 2024, HMD launched four new 4G feature phones: Nokia 215 4G (Nokia 220 4G in China, India and Vietnam), 225 4G, 235 4G and Nokia 3210 (2024),[9] all supporting the Cloud Phone technology. Both were the final devices than use the brand name Nokia, until HMD 105 and 110, which are the first two devices that use the brand name HMD. These phones drop the name S30+ in favor of the generic Mocor RTOS name.[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… [wikipedia.org]
Thereâ(TM)s a small set of Gen y and Gen z types who are trying the dumb phone thing. Some temporary and some have never gone back to a smartphone. I go back and forth Iâ(TM)ve noticed but smart phones really are optional in many cases if you set yourself to a responsible schedule and communicate clearly to people. I think something like the titan pocket is happy medium. Where you still have something Android so you can scan QR codes, get maps and Lyft etc. but the screen is small so less distract
While they are at it, they should invest in a Telex machine also. It will be interesting to see who they can send telexes and faxes to.
I will never work somewhere where fax machines are still being used for any reason. Awful pieces of junk. Any company or industry that is still using fax machines isn’t worth doing business with.
I will never work somewhere where fax machines are still being used for any reason.
Not even for propping open a door?
I guess you will never go to a hospital, interact with the DMV (or any other government service), retain a lawyer, or buy a house… All of those entities have fax machines and some even still require their use for some purposes.
I guess you will never work in government, legal, medical, insurance, accounting or anyone else that requires, especially by law, secured documents to be sent. Faxing is still very huge just because you have this thing called Snapchat in your pockets.
The law is the law, and sometimes it’s an ass. Fax is incredibly insecure because it does not do end point authentication and you have no idea if the ‘fax’ on the receiving end is actually converting the transmission directly to print or if it’s putting the image into an email system.
Hell… You can’t even tell if the origin is physical or digital.
I’ll give you a power move, we never got rid of our fax machine.
You think that just because you have a “dumb” phone, that people aren’t still trying to text you on that number? They ARE, and they are not getting any response, not knowing why. So you might as well just keep your smartphone and simply ignore your texts. The result will be EXACTLY the same.
I have some office space to lease your gullible ass.
Just have filing cabinets and paper records. Never should have moved away from that. If it worked for the Gestapo why can’t it work for us?