At the start of the 20th century, communication was a difficult necessity to maintain. The telephone has not yet reached its maturity, and traditional mail was the only way to keep in contact with others. For business, this meant investing considerable money to maintain contact with business partners. This also meant that things moved a lot slower, and trusting your partners and service providers were paramount.
But as technology progressed, it has completely taken over how we do things. Long-distance communication is commonplace, and real-time updates on businesses and services are expected. We live, interact, study, and even shop differently than when we did two or even three decades ago. There is no doubt that technology has become the driving force of our civilization, and business has benefited a lot from continuous progress.
Faster Processing of Data
The numbers that we’re accustomed to today are significantly larger than in the past century. Endless amounts of statistics are constantly being analyzed, millions and billions of currencies are being exchanged, and the number of people partaking in the economy is ever-increasing.
Thanks to the advent of computers, we can now process all of these numbers digitally. Long gone are the days when accountants have to do everything manually and on paper. Even our tax information is stored in supercomputers that house inconceivable amounts of data. Accounting systems, point of sale systems, inventory systems, all of these and much more have benefited from technology’s never-ending progress. Today, it’s unimaginable to go back to the manual ways of interpreting data.
Real-Time Information
Back then, when you send something over the mail, it can take a month or more before you can receive any correspondence. Relying on trust was the main way of doing things: trust your logistics service provider to deliver on time, trust the cashier to input the purchases for the day correctly- everything was built on trust.
Nowadays, while trust is still valuable in business, we can rest easy as there are fewer opportunities for human error or oversight. Today, information is provided in real-time. Your shipping service provider will allow you to track your packages, online shops inform you of purchases made at the very minute of selling, and booking software will immediately adjust your schedule in real-time.
More Avenues to Market
Advertisements and marketers will go where people are. And this rings true even to this very day, as we include the Internet in our everyday lives. Billboards and commercial ads are no longer restricted to buildings and TV stations, as these are integrated into our digital user experience. By developing artificial intelligence to analyze people’s purchasing habits, companies can better market to their target demographic.
This benefits both consumers and businesses, as consumers are given more options than ever before, and businesses can turn more leads into actual sales. Advertising and marketing have become a major industry on their own, constantly being updated and improved as new technology arises.
Financial Technology Has Arrived
Purchasing something from the comfort of your own home was a science fiction dream for many years, but today it’s an accepted and expected reality. It’s easy to forget or overlook how complicated the technology that allows us to do this is, and we have to thank the advancements in financial technology for that.
What used to be five to ten business days to find out whether a bank transaction was successful has now become literally five to ten minutes. Money moves faster than ever, we no longer need to go to a bank to make a deposit or withdraw cash, we can pay bills at the palm of our hands, and we can purchase needs and wants from the convenience of our couch. This increased convenience in productivity and many businesses experienced greater productivity, with consumers discovering unparalleled convenience.
Paperless Businesses
Paperwork and files used to be an integral part of businesses. Offices of all kinds would always have a large metal filing cabinet where they store reams and reams of paperwork. In the 21st century, papers aren’t exactly obsolete, but they’re on their way there.
With the emergence of the cloud and other cloud-based software, putting important documents in cloud storage is the new standard. There can be no worries about physical damage, like fire, termites, and other physical elements that no longer pose a threat to digital copies. You can never ‘lose a file’ as well, as storing them on the cloud means that you will always have an infinite copy of said files.
Technology plays an important role in the 21st century, and business will only improve as the advancements in technology continue further.
