Last week gremlins hit my computer at work. Whilst I enjoyed a nice cup of tea and read the papers, my friends from IT worked their mysterious magic, re-jigged my profile, wiped half my personnel files and left me a machine that seems to run twice as fast with updated software and functions that confuse me daily. I should really be happy but my routine is broken, most notably by the loss of the automatic email predictor in Outlook.

Laziness

Now, I recognise it is a sign of my laziness that I rely on functions such as this for my contacts list, but in all honesty, it saves an awful lot of time and bother when communicating with the design team. In isolation, it’s not such a great problem, and it’s not beyond my powers of deduction to locate all the necessary emails. What it does highlight is the very powerful influence of routine and perceived control inherent in established methods of working, and the inability of professionals, who are focused on their particular jobs, to entertain the idea of change. For example, to a sane man, it is quite clear my new computer will increase productivity in the long run. Sanity, however, is often in short supply when impatient clients/consultants/contractors are on your back for information. To be honest, right now, I would prefer to have my dodgy computer back as it was before the gremlins took hold, regardless of how poorly it operated outside of my personnel requirements.

Clearly, this behaviour lacks a certain logic on my behalf. I ended up with a great new machine, no skin off my back, and in no way out of pocket financially. I wonder, however, how long it would have taken to fix the thing if I was required to pay for the repairs? How long would I have put the task off, and flogged the ailing machine into the ground until it became so damaged it was beyond repair?

Hard cash

When monetary concerns enter the mix very often logic is thrown right out of the window. Investment in information technology has the ability to increase productivity and reduce operating costs, but the Luddites amongst us have a different perception borne from the fear of losing the masterdom of their workflow (however antiquated) to an unknown technology. To someone who is successful at what they do and comfortable in the way they do it, the change can be scary and stubbornness is understandable. The fact that this change costs a certain amount becomes their weapon of choice in discouraging the logical decision to implement new technology.

The reality of cost therefore has the potential to sink or save a new technology. As a resident writer on the Woobius blog, and active member of their development team, I can’t help but wonder if our new pricing scheme will be attractive enough to the cynic in the office. The trouble is everything on the Internet seems to be increasingly free nowadays – we almost expect it to be free – and a massive psychological barrier must be hurdled to pay even the smallest amount for a service. On the other hand, when one considers what we pay up front, and without thought, for other things in life, the frailty of the human decision making process is shown clearly. Bizarrely it is often the case more we pay for something the more reassured we are the product will be of both quality and use.

Rationale

Bob Leung has displayed convincing rationale in his pricing structure and the options available appeal to a range of tastes. In theory it should work – the tool is a useful one and when used properly saves the user tenfold in time and cost – but everywhere around I see the illogical, cynical, technophobe raise his head to banish such devilry from his domain. It will be interesting to see how things work out for the Woobius team.

In the mean time it would be interesting to hear from other readers how they feel about paying for services on an increasingly cash free internet.