Farewell to Apps

​We shape our tools and, thereafter, our tools shape us.

Marshall McLuhan

I know I'm dating myself by writing this... however,I fondly remember using the following technologies in the office:

Gestetner Machine - A great way to obtain multi-copies of a document and tone your shoulders at the same time.
Telegraph  The only way to arrange the date and time for a long distance call. In those days it was super-expensive to talk on the phone so people planned talk in advance of talking.
Dial telephone That good-old-dial phone had a lot of benefits.  For one, the dial's rotation gave people time to think before speaking.  This way they didn't blurt the first message that popped into their head. 
Busy Signals The beep-beep-beep may have been annoying if you were the one trying to get through.  If you were the person on the other end, however, taking the phone off the hook was the best way to send the message that you didn't want to talk and it was absolutely the best way to take get work done at your desk. 
Inter-office memos Four pages - white, pink, yellow and green. Every page had a different meaning and everyone knew what the meaning was. There were no multiple messages.  No never-ending streams of emails on the same subject.  White/pink = Message Sent. Yellow/green = Reply Received.  Job done.  Issue resolved.
Liquid Paper A dab of liquid paper took a full minute to dry.  In that minute you took a break.  Doodled.  Thought.  Reflected.  Ahhh - the memory...
Typewriters And people complain of carpal tunnel... pshaw!  Try pounding out a full page letter on a standard Underwood!  It's not for ninnies!
Facsimile Not that long ago a fax was the way to send and receive - it seems like a   dinosaur by today's standards.

The speed at which we once worked  seems tortoise-like by today's speed-demon-standards. Even though connecting took more time, more energy, and more thought, communication was more effective and much more efficient.  

Today we have apps to speed the process.   Apps delete the need for people, answer any question, resolve any issue, source any service, fulfil any need. Like the technologies before it, Apps are designed to make life easier, more enjoyable, and just plain more.  

So... when will the app be ancient history?Artificial Intelligence will answer that question.  AI will not only fulfil our needs - it will anticipate them.  

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