Use it, or lose it

Recent genetic studies suggest that Africa is indeed the cradle of humanity and as a consequence of migrations into the sun-starved northern lands that were to become modern Europe, the darker skin pigmentation of the earliest migrants disappeared over generations.

However, the same "use it, or lose it" principle of evolution had a much more dramatic effect on other species, particularly those bird species that lost the power of flight.

In the modern world of information technology, it strikes me we have acquired many different ways of "flying", and yet quite inexplicably, we choose to remain earthbound.

The slow and faltering adoption of electronic billing or e-billing is a good example of how people continue to choose earthbound inefficiency despite the existence of technologies that could figuratively "give them wings".

E-billing is clearly an example of liberating technology that is being shunned because of humankind`s resistance to change.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor

Paying bills is an unpleasant, usually time-consuming part of most people`s lives and yet according to a study conducted on behalf of the US Postal Service, 72% of people who live in technology-intensive countries still prefer receiving paper accounts by post, regardless of location or culture.

Having opted for the e-billing option offered by City of Johannesburg several years ago after several paper accounts failed to arrive by post, I find it difficult to understand resistance to the e-billing concept.

The study found people want a paper account so there is a place to write billing information and check numbers, while others view the invoice as a reminder to pay the bill.

The arrival of an e-mail from the City of Johannesburg each month is my reminder to pay the utility bills. From my computer desktop I can view the account and pay it using my Internet banking facility literally in minutes without leaving my seat.

Thanks to a host of technologies, paying my utility bill is fast, easy and efficient. There is also the added benefit of having all my utility bills available at any time on my desktop and if there is any problem with payment, I know from past experience my bank will sort it out without me having to make endless calls or spend hours in any queues.

Why anyone living in a technology-intensive country would choose paper accounts over e-billing is beyond me. Surely it`s time to get real about the technological world we live in?

Apart from the ease of use, the other benefits are enormous in terms of postal costs and paper costs. According to Insight Research Foundation, more than 1 million residential customers in the US will register for online phone bill payment service this year, saving phone companies an estimated $36 million.

E-billing is clearly an example of liberating technology that is being shunned because of humankind`s resistance to change. The technology exists to make a world of difference to millions of people`s lives and yet they choose to cling to less efficient ways of doing things.

Similarly, what`s the point of ERP, CRM and a host of other TLAs (three-letter acronyms) when we still routinely receive solicitations for things that are irrelevant to our age, gender and income?

Surely if technology and the applications that it enables are applied correctly, such inefficient communications and ways of doing business should be consigned to the history books. Yet in many ways we are no better off than previous generations for all the technological advances that have taken place in the interim.

There are technologies to deal with inefficiency and yet we are confronted by it daily when we receive several copies of the same marketing material, when every member of a single household receives the same information from a single institution, when executors demand multiple copies of death certificates when one could be scanned and made available to all who require it.

If in the evolution of the world, the natural consequence of not using something has been to lose it, I wonder what the consequence will be of not using something in the evolution of technology?