Summer Change

If you're in a hurry, don't read this column. It will just annoy you because it will tell you that you shouldn't be in a hurry. Is it just summer or is there a real change in consciousness, in attitudes taking place?

This may surprise many of you but, here in Quebec, it is illegal to work in construction for the last two weeks of July, essential projects excepted. This law was passed to give construction workers, whose peak time is the summer, a chance to have a summer holiday. As a result, the companies that supply the construction industry shut down too and so do many others. Phones don't ring as often and urgent things become less urgent. I'm in my office at the rear of my house looking at the sun, wind and clouds over the Lake of Two Mountains. The cats are playing on the picnic tables. The canoe needs painting. The Indians across the lake have lit a huge bonfire.

One of my medium-sized business customers has bought 30 new computers and switched from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 because his lease for the old system was up. The new system is set up to look just like the old one and it is doing the same things but the employees still have problems. The new system runs slightly faster but there was no reason to replace the old system except that the lease was up, the vendor recommended replacement and we have to have a modern system, don't we?

Small businesses are insulated from this kind of thinking to some extent. I believe that, world-wide, the number of computers running Windows 3.1 is still much greater than those running Windows 95, NT and 98 combined. I still have a 386 which is one of my workhorses - it does its jobs efficiently, without problems and without anyone needing training. Half of my customers, mostly small businesses, are still running Windows 3.1 and they hardly ever need support. Those running Windows 95 constantly need help. Tell me again why we need Windows 98? Slightly faster, not even better? Yet, resources are being invested in this program.

Still, vacations are more important than construction work and many people are not upgrading their software or computers. Are they saying let's have "better" before we have "faster," "simpler" before we have "more powerful"? This site says many people are saying exactly that.

A small business owner living simply or seeking to simplify his lifestyle, running a business based on the principle of simplicity would be a formidable competitor, especially in terms of cost. But many companies have a huge stake in speed, power and complexity. It would be hard to change that.

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