Remember when just one mobile was the size (and weight) of a brick? Well execs are still whining despite slim-line phones and devices, but happy with work/social separation.
Research from the University of Sydney has discovered that most executives carry as many as four devices with them each day, and well, it’s heavy! While IT departments around the globe do their best to communicate the idea that executives could carry just one integrated device, this research reveals that most executives carry multiple devices on a daily basis. And while their backs may suffering, their work-life balance may be benefitting.
Global banking executives were surveyed in 2006 and again in 2011/12, and the results showed an overwhelming lack of interest in using just one integrated device for all work and personal communications.
All of the surveyed executives carried at least two smartphones, Dr Kristine Dery from the University of Sydney Business School said. “While all of the executives we interviewed had been issued with a company smartphone, the security firewalls meant that the technology had significantly reduced capabilities,” Dery said. “So to expand both work and non-work functions, such as access to social media, executives were also carrying their personal smartphone.”
However this trend is presenting unexpected, positive outcomes. Apparently having two phones –one for work and one for personal use – is helping to draw boundaries between work and non-work activities. “The inconvenience of having to hold two smartphones is, in many instances, offset by the ability to create some degree of separation between work and home life,” said Dery.
Fun Fact
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The first mobile phone readily available to consumers was the DynaTAC8000X by Motorola. It came out in 1984, weighed one kilo and cost $3,995!
Think the i-Phone 5 has poor battery life? Well the DynaTAC offered just half an hour of talk time between every recharging.
