The world as we know it changes with every passing second. These changes subtly creep up on us and go almost unnoticed till we reflect on the past. And suddenly it dawns on us that our present world is a far cry from the world of as recent as the past decade.
Unified Communications effect
Human beings are one of the most adaptable creatures on the planet. And so it isn’t very surprising that regardless of whatever befalls us, we take everything in stride. We adapt, and we optimize situations to the best of our ability. This behavior is what has always driven mankind to research, create, and innovate. One very important byproduct of this personality trait has been breakthrough advancements in modern communications technology. With each passing year, more of these critical and life-changing advancements take place, thereby taking our pace from casual steps to leaps and bounds. The importance of these strides in advancement cannot be overstated as the improvements in our quality of life are glaringly self-evident. And so as all things must balance, once there is an upside, there inadvertently will be a downside.
Need for Immediate Gratification
Humans on Earth today number approximately 7.8 billion, more than at any point in our history. The global interconnectedness we have today is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Altogether, no time has ever been as fast-paced as the present. As the subject matter of this piece points to, our expectations are on the highest level ever. The present generation is the most impatient populace of mankind that has ever graced the earth. This is arguably due to the rise in Unified Communications brought about by modern technological advancements. A new standard of speed advances every day and we thirst for more. This has birthed an unending cycle that feeds itself, leading us to crave instant gratification, and so we want everything NOW. Our messages deliver instantly, our wants can be ordered, processed, and delivered on the same day. Our meetings can happen virtually regardless of wherever we are in the world, everything happens in the blink of an eye.
In as much as these changes are wonderful and have generally improved our quality of life, they have also had an effect on our expectations of the world around us. For every message we instantly send, we expect an equally instant reply. The days where we could leave voicemails and be perfectly content with receiving responses days after are long behind us. For every order we place, we expect delivery on the same day and experience feverish anticipation and anxiety during the wait for the order until it finally arrives. This fever worsens if the option for same-day delivery isn’t available. Seriously, we forget that once upon a time we had to go to physically buy everything we used. We expect people to show up for meetings without fail, forgetting that our various realities differ outside our individual bubbles.
What Next?
The magnitude of this change cannot truly be quantified as it is intangible. Therefore it has no system of measurement. Inevitably, we all get caught up and tugged into that raging current of expectations. It’s next to impossible to avoid being dragged into because we are an interdependent species. One might wonder where this path will eventually lead us. I suppose the cycle will just never end as the demand for speed will continue to surpass the supply of it. If such a day ever comes where the present systems that govern modern-day unified communications technology became disrupted, mankind will simply adjust and adapt as we’ve always done from time immemorial. But at what cost?