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Is technology out of control? Certainly the computer & internet age has seen more technology developed and forced on our society than at any other time in history. Is it really making things better? Bloated software, computer crashes and the stress encountered as workers try to keep up with the latest operating systems and application software have forever changed the modern workplace. New software and operating system versions are coming out on an increasing short schedule. Where just a few years ago it was common to go 3 to 5 years between releases, now the norm is less than a year and getting shorter. In an ever increasing battle for mind share, software companies are on a high-speed race to bring "new" or "improved" products to market - and the user is standing squarely in their path. The industry is out of control - stock prices have taken priority over user needs, and ultimately the user suffers with huge software all too often riddled with bugs and a steep learning curve. "It does not have to be that way" states Doug Lochner, CEO of HLI Systems a small Southern California technology development firm. "Too many companies have forsaken the user for profits and we all suffer. Even the most basic PC today has the power to run software that "thinks" for the user - making their work easier, less frustrating with little or no learning curve. Yet software continues to get more complex, harder to navigate and increasingly bloated with needless features. Let's face it - most users do not need a word processor that takes up a few hundred megabytes of disk space; it is insane." "It is time for the industry to focus on the user instead of wall-street; short-sighted profit taking is killing innovation and damaging the industry. It's not that the technology does not exist - it does - it is just a matter of taking the time to re-think and re-tool how things are done and then investing the time and energy needed to implement new technology." "The same disease that has infected the software industry is now infecting the internet - "portal mania" is now wide-spread. Home pages have become so busy, so stuffed with links and content that it takes a considerable amount of time just to find what section you are looking for let alone the information you desire."The rear question is: does the consumer want mega-portals? Does the consumer want one-product-does-all software? Do they really need a toaster that also polishes their shoes? Our research says NO. The consumer wants ease of use and relevant information without hype and without bloat. They want to get what they need with as little effort as possible. Bloated web-sites and bloated software, like all large systems, impede their own function and are inherently hard to use. It is time the industry takes responsibility for its users and designs better, not bigger, systems. The only way this can happen is by investing in "intelligent technology", creating products that anticipate a user's needs and respond accordingly - offering only the relevant choices. "We know this can be done because we build software (and web sites) that do this everyday." comments Nathan Hitchcock project manager at HLI. HLI Systems has created exactly this type of "intelligent system" to solve a series of problems from running an internet e-commerce site to managing public school districts. "The beauty of these systems is they are completely transparent to the user. You don't have to think about how to use the system, it responds to you. The user is free to concentrate on the task at hand, whether that is finding information or a product on the web or running an enterprise. As soon as you make your systems bend to the user, you realize tremendous gains in productivity, morale and efficiency which translate to cost savings and increased revenues." states Doug Lochner, CEO of HLI Systems. HLI Systems has been designing unique intelligent systems since 1982. They currently have the largest, rich content, categorized e-business search engine on the web located at: www.where2go.com. HLI Systems is a vocal advocate on the proper use of technology for the benefit of humanity not just the creation of wealth. "Too many people only care about the money - greed is destroying the planet and dehumanizing people. That is not what technology is for." comments Lochner To learn more, visit http://www.hli.net or e-mail
info@hli.net.
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