Crossing the digital divide: 5 steps to filing with style
Computers are indeed weird inventions - apart from a lot of plastic, some metal and the occasional carbon/silicon giant polymer, most of our interactions with computers are dealing with untouchable, ‘virtual’ things. From the intangible bits of information on our hard drives, the fleeting images on our screens, and to the vibrant hues reflected in our CDs and DVDs, this virtual world has a whole new set of rules and customs as compared to the physical world.
In business circles, people have long since perfected the art of coping with physical information: inboxes, outboxes, photocopiers, filing cabinets, shredders - all the paraphernalia of a typical paper based office.
But in the virtual world, we’re not so proficient in managing our information as robustly - in many many cases, I see people who are experts in paper-based systems treat their equivalent electronic systems without any of the same proficiency nor zeal.
The ‘digital divide’ is said to delineate ‘Generation X’ from ‘Generation Y’ - those who grew up with personal computers vs those who grew up before them. While the definitions of the range of ages of these two generations differs depending on who you talk to, I would suggest that it’s not so much age-based, but confidence-based.
That said, let me pose a few typical computer filing situations, and show you how to ‘file with style’ in the virtual world, and feel more confident with your own digital information.
