Navigating the maelstrom of modern work – one coffee break at a time

The year is 2023 and we're in the throes of a work revolution. Forget the Spanish Inquisition - nobody expects the Coffee Break Inquisition. According to Slack's State of Work report, we're in a massive fight over the soul of productivity, and it seems the battleground is your coffee break.

"....where does that leave the copier industry? The question isn't new, but the answer must be: How do we adapt to the new way of work, advise clients accordingly, and create sustainable revenue models that aren't entirely dependent on copiers?"

Who'd have thought that little office respite would become the symbol of a deeper conflict over the meaning of productivity? Forget buzzwords. We're staring down the barrel of a "productivity paradox". Here's the rub: many workers are associating "productivity" with backbreaking workloads and stress. It's all about proving you're working hard, not smart.

AI: History's Newest 'Threat' and Our Inevitable Evolution

Embrace the inevitable evolution of technology with our guide to navigating the AI revolution

Anticipate These Emerging Concepts:

"AI Alarmist"

"AI Skeptic"

"AI: The New Climate Crisis"

"AI's Devastating Impact on Commercial Real Estate"

"AI Isn't Art"

"Preserving Jobs Requires Halting AI"

"AI Threatens Our Humanity"

From floppy disks to carbon paper, typewriters to horses, loom to iceboxes, silent movies to photographs, candles to newspapers, printers to scribes, cave paintings, and all the way back to the invention of the wheel and the discovery of fire...

💻 Selling MPS | The Hybrid Office | American Business | Hack On, AI💻

From Paper Jams to Power Moves: Unleashing the Magic of Managed Print Services

Managed print services (MPS) is alive and well. Actually, unbelievably well. We’ve talked about this before, and the wave continues. While dealers and manufacturers report a reduction in page volumes, an increase in MPS contracts highlights an area that dealers should be leaning into.

Despite its limited name, MPS is about more than just print. It isn’t just about cartridges or even cyber security, but it IS about supplies, purchasing, keeping data under lock and key, and even leasing. What’s more, with the move back to an office, cost reductions and increasing efficiencies hold a more prominent position.

Voice Over Text: Unleashing the Power of Spoken Queries

Your Voice, Your Search: Crafting Precision with Vocalized Queries

Greg's Words

The concept of a User Interface (UI) is as ancient as time itself, with only the face-to-face dialogue outdating our good old QWERTY companion.

The art of conversation.

A recent study uncovers a fascinating nuance - articulating your queries to Google yields more fruitful outcomes than the traditional method of hammering them out on a keyboard. The hypothesis is that those who choose to engage with their microphone give a tad more thought to their queries than their keyboard-bound counterparts.

Now, I remain on the fence about this proposition.

However, I can't deny the reality that transforming spoken words into digital text leans more toward convenience than anything else.

Yet, the Wall Street Journal seems to have a different perspective on this matter.

Send in the AI. It's Already Here.

Cirque du Futur: Juggle Imagination, Intelligence, and Light Speed

The transformation, my friends, is no longer a distant promise; it's in the very air we breathe. The traditional looms, once the lifeblood of creation, have lost their relevance, their utility overshadowed by the relentless march of progress.

The mechanics of content generation are irrelevant. The true essence of good content is indeed a subjective reality, judged in the eyes of its beholder - the discerning reader.

ChatGPT: The AI Muse Inspiring SoftBank’s New Direction

ChatGPT – not just a chatbot, but the creative catalyst in SoftBank's AI revolution!

Greg's Words

ChatGPT is a nifty tool that helps writers write.  Apparently, it also helps thinkers, think.

I've been a party to many 3AM "conversations" with the AI in the Sky - from Quantum mechanics to the social ramifications of Star Trek(TOS).  It is easy to be fooled into believing there is a sentient being on the other end of the ether.

But there isn't.

What lurks in that land of both Shadow and substance of things and ideas, what most people miss, is the entity you're querying is your digital doppelganger; your Modern Prometheus.  

When it's good, when it's really, really good, you are talking to yourself.  The oracle is you.

And so it is with SoftBank Group Chief Executive Masayoshi Son - he's discovered the power of self-reflection.  Of talking to himself.

His late-night intercourse with ChatGPT is not quite nirvana, more of a digital epiphany, which has led him to invest more in tech. 

“The time is approaching for us to go on the counteroffensive,” Son said at the annual meeting of the Japanese technology-investment company. “I want SoftBank to lead the AI revolution.”

I admire his passion.

Check out the hook.

Highlights:

1. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group CEO, credits ChatGPT for reinvigorating his spirits and reigniting his aspiration to lead the AI revolution.
2. Son's interaction with ChatGPT has resulted in over 600 new ideas, underscoring the potential of AI in creative processes.
3. Despite past financial struggles, SoftBank's renewed focus on AI has led to a positive response in the market, with shares reaching a recent high.

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Deathbed Interviews, The Five Regrets of Life & Work From Anywhere -

A study from 2013.  Australian nurse interviews.

So, I found this article from 2013 - The top five regrets of the Dying.  

#1 - "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize until they no longer have it."

Now, today, view this thought through the post-fear-of-covid, work-from-anywhere, lens.

• 45-minute commutes
• empty face-to-face meetings
• irrelevant and ineffective managers
• 2% raises after 'check-box' evaluations...

In her work as a palliative care nurse, Bronnie Ware encountered the dying epiphanies of patients in their final days. 

The most common regrets she observed are as follows: