New Technology Makes Mobile Offices Fully Functional

One of the main benefits of newer technologies is mobility, and mobility means the ability to do work in more places. Since the invention of the lap top computer, there have been a steadily growing number of devices that allow people to work when and where they want to. Of course the laptop computer was the first. Even the most primitive ones could allow people to write and work with spreadsheets in the park or in the airport, as well as the doctor s office waiting room, at home, or even sitting in their cars. It didn t take too long for portable printers to come along that could go with the laptop computer. This really opened up the possibilities for professionals on the go. For example, portable printers meant that electricians, cable TV installers, and other service people could simply enter information into computers in their vehicles and then print out an invoice right then and there to hand to the client. This meant no messy handwriting, no long wait, and basically no problems when it came to accountability (and no surprises when a bill came later!). Of course, now we have a whole bunch of ways to get work done when we re away from the office. Today s laptop computers can keep in touch with the office and the rest of the world using WiFi hot spots and even G3 networks that can provide Internet access even miles away from a transmitter! These same types of technology have been shrunk into portable devices like the Blackberry and other so called Smart Phones that allow us to keep in touch and do work even in places that we probably shouldn t like the bathroom, little league games, the dinner table, PTA meetings, Bar Mitzvahs, Churches, playgrounds, weddings, and funerals. In effect, all of these different devices and types of technologies have combined to create offices that we can take with us wherever we go. There s always been one piece of office equipment that was missing though: the scanner. Scanners are great for archiving invoices, photos, and a wide variety of other documents. The main problem with bringing a scanner along with your laptop computer and your portable printer though is the fact that scanners are just so huge. Now there s an alternative in the form of a special kind of scanner that s basically a cylinder about as long at the width of a standard letter sized piece of paper. The scanner is completely self contained with a minimum of eight megabytes and a maximum of two hundred and fifty six megabytes of storage capacity. It comes with integrated controls that allow you to choose the resolution of the scan, and the more advanced model can even use text recognition software to convert scanned text into text that can be edited in a word processing program! Basically, the scanner scans a page simply by being rolled along the length of the page. Once the image is loaded into the scanner s memory, it can then be uploaded to a computer via USB connection. Now with this new type of technology, it s possible to have a complete office that s completely mobile! A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue his dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we re bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology , whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occasionally confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.