Lately, I’ve realized that that the world is becoming so technologically advanced — with the latest and greatest programs and procedures claiming to “beat the pants off the competition” — that the “improvements” often end up making our lives harder and our blood pressure higher.
Sure, the “newest version” may have all the whistles and bells, but to that I say just these two words: “Microsoft Vista.” In other words, just because the program has been advanced doesn’t mean it has been improved.
Super-technology can actually get in the way of a life well spent, if it is not well thought out. No one knows this better than Russell Miller, WPS U.S.A. General Manager — West. The company’s newest ParkID software thankfully addresses the fine line between developing cutting-edge technology and going too far.
“We don’t want to make the parking process more frustrating for the customer,” Miller said, “nor do we want it to jeopardize the operator’s bottom line. There are sound solutions to having a cutting-edge system without technology so sensitive that it simply doesn’t work.”
In fact, he said, the company uses a Linux operating system instead of Windows to expedite the process, and the client can log in from anywhere there is an Internet connection. Keyword: Simple.
Miller knows that the industry will continue to produce state-of-the-art parking technology and that his company will remain dedicated to ensuring its own systems are “future-proof.”
The “newest version” may have all the whistles and bells, but to that I say just these two words: “Microsoft Vista.”
Though we hate to admit it, many of us (even in this industry) have experienced the “parking lot blues.” Who, at one time or another, hasn’t missed the big kickoff, a dinner reservation or a child’s stage debut at their holiday play — all because we got stuck behind a car held captive by a temperamental ticket machine?
If you make it simple, “they will come.” Now, that’s the wave of the future!
Contact Diane Calhoun, AIWD Director of Marketing & Events, at dcalhoun@welders.to.
