Every so often there’s another piece of academic research published which tries to establish whether the IT industry has resulted in a net gain in productivity for commerce and industry. The jury still seems to be out (although I like the idea that playing computer games at work is good for you).

Take Google – a wonderful way to find things quickly, but equally a wonderful way to waste several hours ‘searching’ for information, following interesting blind alleys, etc.

For some reason, I got into one of these meanderings yesterday, wondering how much of my professional career had left footprints on the net. The earliest entry I could find was the paper (does a pdf of a photocopy count?) from The Teaching Company Scheme that we ran at Forbo. Forbo’s sad decline is well documented – with jobs going in 1995, 1996, and then following my departure in 1997, more cuts in 1998, and then the final blow in 2001. Note:I’m not claiming cause and effect here – just the ability to read the obvious writing on the wall.

The dot-com bubble is of couse extensively documented. The sums of cash involved make Forbo’s losses fade into insignficance, but in this case the corporartions concerned could easily afford it. So, hail Project Kite (aka work24.co.uk) from the announcements of the birth, through reports of the genius of its MD and the wonders of its technology, to the inevitable bursting of the bubble.

The Register strikes the right note – it was brilliant while it lasted. If I had £30m to blow, I’d seriously consider doing it all again.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 30th, 2005 at 10:15 am and is filed under The day job. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.