RSS, Postediting An Integral Part

The Networked Society Bloghttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog The Networked Society BlogFri, 24 Jul 2015 05:55:47 +0000en-UShourly1Adults adopt action cameras – they’re not just for kids anymorehttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/24/adults-adopt-action-cameras-theyre-not-just-for-kids-anymore/ Fri, 24 Jul 2015 05:55:47 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7998The role of classic cameras has been taken over by smartphones. This means that the camera category getting most of the attention is action cameras. For the younger generation, this is nothing new – they are onboard. But are you ready to embrace a creative journey with multiple action cameras, new mounting options [ ]

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]]>The has been taken over by smartphones. This means that the camera category getting most of the attention is For the younger generation, this is nothing new – they are onboard. But are you ready to embrace a creative journey with multiple action cameras, new mounting options and cloud-based editing tools, using the technology your kids already master?

Global camera sales have gone through a . The digital camera market has gone up and come down. People still buy cameras when they need lenses and high-end sensors for top-notch quality. And during the past five years of digital camera decline, we have seen . They were initially used by the YouTube generation, who see them as a vital tool in increasing video viewership of their action adventures.

Going forward, their parents are likely to play a bigger role in adopting the technology. While the younger generation their parents will try to get the basics right. The first step is either among available options or inheriting one from your kids. Then you have to figure out what camera-mounting options are most attractive for your videography desires. The advancements in action-camera apps on smartphones even let you control the action camera from your primary screen and see it when filming and taking pictures. This is a great leap forward. Your kids grew up shooting videos with an action camera without a screen for most of their adventures, and first seeing the result when it hit the PC.

Postediting an integral partMost people skip postediting of pictures and video taken using smartphones, digital cameras and camcorders. However postediting is an integrated part of the action camera experience. Most of what you film will not turn out as planned and needs to be scrapped. You will find great pieces in the middle of longer recordings. When using two cameras on and off, you can create amazing videos when shifting perspectives. And last but not least the sound on action camera videos should be music rather than the natural sounds and spoken words that you usually capture in smartphone and camcorder videos.

So plan to learn the tools that work with action cameras or cloud-based variants of established video-editing programs. It is easier than you think. As an entry point, you might want to start on the editing end by using the video, slow-motion and time-lapse capabilities on your smartphone, as well as phone-based video-editing tools.

The action-camera market is still small, with 5 million units shipped in 2014. The first half of A big part of the market for action cameras is in . You can see your new action camera as a platform where adding accessories plays the same role as adding new lenses to an SLR camera – they are a way to help you get the most out of it.

My predictions for the future of action camera-enabled videography

• Adults adopt action cameras in a material way, starting by inheriting gear from their kids
• Smartphone-controlled action cameras reduce the entry barrier and allow users to control results much better at the point of filming
• New technologies such as are still in their infancy
• The action camera market is expected to grow at so this will not be a phenomena with the same mass market appeal as smartphones.

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]]>Streaming disruption: what next for transformed music industry?http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/22/streaming-disruption-what-next-for-transformed-music-industry/ Wed, 22 Jul 2015 06:00:34 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7878I really love music, and I have had the privilege of growing up during some of the most interesting times in music industry history.

I remember listening to Radio Luxembourg before getting my first rock vinyl in 1973 – Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s first album – from my parents. I worked as a DJ in the early 1980s, [ ]

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]]>I really love music, and I have had the privilege of growing up during some of the most interesting times in music industry history.

I remember listening to Radio Luxembourg before getting my first rock vinyl in 1973 – Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s first album – from my parents. I worked as a DJ in the early 1980s, bought my first CD in 1984, have worked in a record store (there are not many of them left), was active in a music exchange network during the piracy years, and today I have access to millions of songs on all my devices, wherever I am. The music industry really has changed.

On July 1, Apple launched its in a number of countries. We have already seen Spotify, WiMP/Tidal, Pandora and streaming services. But while music is now more accessible than ever, the industry is still beating itself up. Artists leaving one service for another, and others not releasing their music online at all, are still feeding the piracy services plaguing their business. They argue that the payments they get from these services are too low, even if the streaming services pay up to to the music labels. So why are the performers not happy?

I don’t want to dig into the business cases of the music industry – individual artists obviously have their own reasons for their statements and actions – but from the outside it seems strange that this 70 percent revenue share still ends up providing small change for the performers. Megastars such as Madonna and Jay Z can take their business to Tidal because they want to revolutionize the industry, but has anyone heard anything about Tidal since its launch? And what happens with the new, unknown bands?

It is in these new bands that I see the future. When an artist wants to release an album, they release it solely on the online services, without the need for a record label to back them up. Of course they get more of the revenues directly from these services, and by using the same platform as everyone else, their music is available anywhere in the world with just a click. And there is no record label standing in the way of the money getting to the artist.

The Networked Society is all about transformation. The music industry has transformed because technology forced it to. But thanks to streaming services – and artists realizing that they can promote and spread their music without a label – it is set to transform even more. I find new music every day thanks to Spotify: many of the artists I find there have never had a deal with a record company, and probably never will.

I believe there will still be record companies in the future. But where they once were the only way for an artist to get exposure – like back when my parents bought me that Bachman-Turner Overdrive record in 1973 – today they are only one of the many ways a new artist can share their music. I hope the music industry understands this. If they don’t, they won’t be prepared for the next big transformation shift that is just around the corner.

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]]>Is the Networked Society ready for the connected person?http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/20/is-the-networked-society-ready-for-the-connected-person/ Mon, 20 Jul 2015 06:00:58 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7902I’m a connected man, living with an NFC chip in my body: a small device implanted into my left hand between the thumb and the forefinger.

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]]>My name is Stanislav, and I’m a connected man. I’ve been living with an NFC chip in my body for a few weeks already: a small (2×12 mm) capsule made of glass and implanted into my left hand between the thumb and the forefinger.

Theoretically, I can now use my hand instead of a pass card in the Moscow office. Or I can say “goodbye” to the Android password – after all, the NFC Unlock application lets people use any NFC chip to unlock their phones. And, of course, I have the unique possibility of impressing strangers with an exciting story that I’m a cyborg here from the future to save humanity. The expression on people’s faces is incredible when they realize I really did it – I put a piece of electronics into my body.

So is this a popular trend? The Internet is full of stories like “Why I implanted an NFC chip in my hand”. One man gets NFC implants in hands to . One hi-tech Swedish office even to let them gain entry, operate the photocopier, or pay for lunch. The company Dangerous Things, the leader in the fast-growing market of implantable devices, sells thousands of injection kits for do-it-yourself injecting right at home. Does it mean implantable devices will become an industry standard in the Networked society?

Ultimately, I’m sure it does. But not in the near future.

First of all, people are not ready to accept such a level of technological penetration into their lives. That’s hard to believe in a world where every second person sleeps with their phone under the pillow. But every person I’ve met on a hotel reception desk or business center was really shocked by my suggestion to write a pass card into my hand. It is common belief that every dying person passes through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It’s funny, but every person who learns about my NFC chip passes the same stages. At first, they think I’m joking. Then, they feel disgust about this implant. After that, they begin to bargain (“OK, I’ll write a pass card into your hand, but only if you’ll give me an official request from your company with a CEO signature and stamp”). It seems like the ordinary person is not ready for these technologies yet.

Secondly, “implanted chip” may sound impressive, but this is not really an implanted device yet. It’s simply a device placed under my skin. What do I mean? You’ve got no any advantage of putting this thing inside your body – it doesn’t interact with your organism as it could!

It doesn’t count your heartbeat, for example, and doesn’t measure your temperature. And it is really no different to any external RFID tag you can buy on eBay. Actually, I can imagine only one reason to put it under your skin rather than on your keychain. It’s security: you can lose your keychain but can’t lose your hand (I hope).

But while I think about all these issues, you will be able to implant more advanced devices in the near future. I can’t control my imagination. For example, look at Neil Harbisson who has an that allows him to perceive visible and invisible colors via audible vibrations. And imagine a world where everyone could extend their feelings with some kind of an implantable device. That will be an interesting world, wouldn’t you agree?

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]]>Dad! My drone is stuck on the roof. Againhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/17/dad-my-drone-is-stuck-on-the-roof-again/ Fri, 17 Jul 2015 06:00:33 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7892The first drone summer is here, with drones taking to the air in large volumes. With this development we will see a number of new phenomena – a kind of digital transformation of previously analog problems. And much of this transition will involve moving drones on and off the roof.

For industry professionals dealing with [ ]

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]]>The first drone summer is here, with drones taking to the air in large volumes. With this development we will see a number of new phenomena – a kind of digital transformation of previously analog problems. And much of this transition will involve moving drones on and off the roof.

For, drones are an attractive new tool. Inspections of roofs in hail and thunderstorm-hit areas can be done from the ground. A drone can be sent up for basic inspections of damage, a job that previously required a physical visit. In addition to simplifying the work, there is significant risk elimination, as people won’t have to climb on steep roofs.

Drones also open up . Previously the photographer had to be close to the camera and could only tell parts of the story. Now a drone can be sent up and give new perspectives on complex news scenes.

Farmers have got new opportunities to promote the beauty of their cultivations as well. were first out. But drones will not only show the beauty of the landscape when it is dry but can also be used to

Last but not least, . Anything that flies tends to fascinate kids. In the past it was the kite that created the excitement: the art of getting it up in the first place, navigating it once it was up, and then bringing it down safely. Dad was often in great demand, helping get the kite down from trees and roofs.

With the interest shifting to drones, there is a greater risk of them getting stuck in places where you don’t want them to be. A new task for dads this summer will be to apply old kite-rescuing skills to retrieving drones from roofs, trees, light-poles and overhead wires. Get ready for some excitement in this category once you purchase your drone.

My predictions on the future applications for drones:

• The professional market will find a variety of drone applications to reduce time and risk in existing job activities.
• Completely new professional opportunities will be opened up as drones can go where cameras can’t.
• The action camera mounted to a person has taken us by storm but the action camera is ready to leave both the object and the photographer.
• Drones are the 21st century’s kites that will continue to fascinate our kids, who live in the Orwell brothers’ world of flight.

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]]>What will money look like 20 years from now?http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/15/what-will-money-look-like-20-years-from-now/ Wed, 15 Jul 2015 06:00:22 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7808Customer value and the benefits of paperless banking (The GOOD) are unquestionably at the forefront of today’s thought leadership surrounding financial services, while security issues, regulation and inequality (THE BAD) continue to be hot topics.

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]]>Editor’s note: Today we are featuring an excerpt from a post on the future of money from Ericsson’s blog. It was written by Lisa Elénius Taylor, Marketing Manager for M-commerce:

Things have changed a lot in the past twenty years when it comes to money. In 1995, credit cards and checks were the norm, along with good old cash, of course. Discussions in the financial press looked to the future of money as being predominantly digital, which it is today: “Digital money is the ultimate-and inevitable-medium of exchange for an increasingly wired world,” in Business Week that year.

“With E-cash, you’ll no longer need to carry a wad of bills in your pocket or fumble for exact change,” they continue. “Instead, you might carry a credit-card-size piece of plastic with an embedded microchip that you will ”load” up with E-money you buy with traditional currency. Or, you might store your digital coins and dollars-downloaded over phone lines from your bank or other issuer of E-money-on your PC or in an electronic ”wallet,” a palm-size device used to store and transmit E-money”.

What I love about this quote is not just the apparent naivety of the scope of the impending digital revolution, which is still transforming industries beyond the wildest dreams we had in the 1990s, but that it predicts a future in which the traditional banking industry, mobile network operators, and other players like financial service providers or fintech innovators all play key roles in delivering services: “…you might store your digital coins and dollars-downloaded over phone lines from your bank or other issuer of E-money”.

Later on in the article, the authors list the pros and cons of “The New World Of E-Cash”, which is worth a read:

THE GOOD

• E-cash is more convenient and flexible than traditional money. It can be used by consumers and businesses, and for everything from buying wares on the Internet to lending a pal five bucks.
• Banks that issue E-cash could find it much cheaper than handling checks and the paper records that accompany traditional money.
• Consumers doing business on the Internet will find some forms of electronic money afford much greater privacy than using ordinary credit cards.

THE BAD

• Uncontrolled growth of E-cash systems could undermine bank- and government-controlled money systems, giving rise to a confusing and inefficient Babel of competing systems.
• E-cash may be less secure than bank money: Money stored on a PC could be lost forever if the system crashes.
• E-cash could foster a have and have-not society: Those with PCs would have ready access to the stuff, while those without, many of them low-income consumers, would not.

AND THE UGLY

• Money laundering and tax evasion could proliferate in stateless E-money systems as criminals use untraceable cyberdollars to hide assets offshore.
• Counterfeiters could create their own personal mints of E-cash that would be indistinguishable from real money.
• If computer hackers or other criminals were to break into E-cash systems, they could instantaneously filch the electronic wealth of thousands or even millions of innocent consumers.

These are all valid points. While the use of the adjective “cyber” is thankfully a thing of the past in most circles, the arguments and fears the authors describe have all played important roles in the building up of today’s mobile money ecosystem. Customer value and the benefits of paperless banking (The GOOD) are unquestionably at the forefront of today’s thought leadership surrounding financial services, while security issues, regulation and inequality (THE BAD) continue to be hot topics.

As for fraud and other threats (THE UGLY), encoded and encrypted walls of security will always be more effective than transporting huge amounts of used bank notes for masked criminal gangs to try and steal like in great 1990s movies like Point Break.

Whatever the future holds for money over the next twenty years and beyond, Ericsson will be right there helping bridge the void between players so that everyone will benefit.

What do you think money will be like in 20 years from now?

You can read the entire post on the Call to Change blog here:

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]]>Breaking down the walls to technological transformation: a tribute to Jon Snowhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/13/breaking-down-the-walls-to-technological-transformation-a-tribute-to-jon-snow-and-game-of-thrones/ Mon, 13 Jul 2015 06:00:57 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7828But we must first work together to break down the walls and barriers to technological transformation, including the creation of enabling legislation through collaborative engagement. We need to be inspired by the stories of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh; Mpesa in Kenya; and steeled by the character of Jon Snow.

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]]>Editor’s note: Today we are featuring a guest post from Pelayo Omotoso, Head of Practice, Core & Cloud, for Ericsson Region Sub-Saharan Africa:

The fourth season of Game of Thrones, the popular HBO TV series adapted from the fantasy novels of George R. R. Martin, is the most watched HBO TV series of all time with a record 18.6 million gross viewers. While often discussed for its stunning and often shocking visuals, I have always been drawn to the strong character narratives that have sustained Martin’s readership through five novels since 1996, with the promise of two more in the works.

One of Martin’s most endearing characters is Jon Snow, the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, which guards “The Wall,” the most northerly outpost of the show’s kingdom. Jon Snow has been described by The New York Times as one of Martin’s finest creations; a complex, thoughtful character, striving to live honorably. Through Snow’s narrative, we live through decisions that have not just personal but also broader societal consequences. We learn the hardships of going against the grain, of the high price that individuals often pay for the courage of their convictions. And we saw Snow pay a huge price in a recent episode, ambushed and stabbed by fellow members of the Night’s Watch.

Thankfully our modern societies are less bloodthirsty that the world of Jon Snow. However, we still need the courage to be daring in the face of convention. One of the stories that inspired my journey into telecommunications in Africa was Iqbal Quadir’s move back to Bangladesh to establish what became GrameenPhone’s Village phone program. He quit a very successful life in the USA, and combated conventional thinking about the utility of connectivity. This was one of the first successful sustainable rural rollouts of telecommunication services in the developing world. Quadir’s TED Talk is definitely worth the 15 minutes of your time. One of the fundamental concepts of his talk is the democratization of societal advancement that is enabled by technology.

Sadly, it is often the case in the real world too that policy frameworks lag behind the hard-won advances in technology. Often the walls that technology must vault are not just those that create societal divides but also the antiquated or ill-advised policy frameworks that stifle its potential. While regulators are often desperate to achieve the sort of legislative environment that unlocks the true potential of technology, they labor under conditions of limited resources and competing priorities. This is especially true in Africa, where the impact of telecommunication on the lives of people is hard to overstate. When countries implement broadband plans supported by aligned policies and regulations, a dynamic business environment is created in which the whole society thrives.

My take away is that we do not need more or even better legislators, we just need more Jon Snows and Iqbal Quadirs; citizens, regardless of being part of the private sector or government, demonstrating the courage of their convictions through actions that bootstrap the community and shape the destiny of our continent. We see this happening in Africa too. The mobile money revolution has been catalyzed by the spirit of innovation, first in East Africa, and increasingly across the continent.

But we must first work together to break down the walls and barriers to technological transformation, including the creation of enabling legislation through collaborative engagement. We need to be inspired by the stories of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh; Mpesa in Kenya; and steeled by the character of Jon Snow. Not because he watches The Wall, but because he had the courage to surmount the walls that stand in the way of technological transformation, and create a legacy of lasting significance.

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]]>The Networked Society will not work without an automation frameworkhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/09/the-networked-society-will-not-work-without-an-automation-framework/ Thu, 09 Jul 2015 06:00:41 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7853In a previous post, I talked about where medical research might connect with what we are trying to achieve in the Networked Society. And even if the connection between Knowledge Management and weak central coherence theory might have been far-fetched, it is only just the start. To take these ideas forward, in our world, we [ ]

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]]>In, I talked about where medical research might connect with what we are trying to achieve in the Networked Society. And even if the connection between Knowledge Management and weak central coherence theory might have been far-fetched, it is only just the start. To take these ideas forward, in our world, we talk about Knowledge Management and Automation Framework (KMAF).

When you woke up this morning, made your breakfast, got dressed and went to work, you made use of KMAF in your own way. If you needed to think and decide consciously about everything, you would probably still be in your bed, trying to figure out if a shower is best before or after breakfast or not at all.

One of the core components in this is defining what knowledge actually is – what we call the “upper ontology.” There is, of course, also “common sense” that defines what a truck or a train is. And finally there is “domain specific knowledge” where we define things like what delivery means for the transport system. All of these foundations need to be set before we can use our knowledge to automate things. They all need to be in the “brain” of the system before we use them.

It might sound very complicated, but in reality the trick is to make things as easy as possible. If the KMAF works as we tell it to do, billions of decisions can be taken without any human interaction.

Coming back to my favorite demo, the model train we have in the Ericsson Studio makes use of knowledge we have collected before to simulate what will occur later. After a simulation and verification is done in the system, it reports back to us humans if the request is possible to fulfill. Only after the task is completed does the system wait for human interaction – usually the final decision to confirm the misson’s success.”

Why is this so important? Our forecast is that around 26 billion devices will be connected by 2020, and if all of them required human interaction, The Networked Society would be impossible to maintain.

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]]>Drawing the line between good habits and addiction with Nir Eyalhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/08/drawing-the-line-between-good-habits-and-addiction-with-nir-eyal/ Wed, 08 Jul 2015 06:00:32 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7847Do you know when a good habit becomes a bad habit? Who judges this? What is the incentive for a company to purposely limit the consumption of its own product?

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]]>There is a famous quote “The future is already here, it is just unevenly distributed.” I will not give the name of the person who said it, somebody can add it to the comments. This quote explains why we in Ericsson have significant presence in Silicon Valley. Love it or hate, nobody can deny that the culture in that part of the world continuously challenges the status quo. And the Networked Society is all about challenging the status quo, with an open mind and balanced perspective.

So introducing Hans Haenlein, who leads our product discovery team in the valley. Hans had the opportunity to take part in an AT&T Foundry and Ericsson FutureCast event talking about habits, when they are good, when they are bad, and how you can tell the difference:

Do you know when a good habit becomes a bad habit? Who judges this? What is the incentive for a company to purposely limit the consumption of its own product?

As we connect everything from education to transportation, this is powerful knowledge, and like all powerful knowledge it has the potential to stimulate much that is good (behavior change around improving your health for example), yet also the potential to stimulate much that can be harmful (addictive games for example).

These questions are very much on my mind after a very stimulating evening at the AT&T Foundry in Palo Alto with Nir Eyal, author of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.” He was interviewed by Andrew Keen as part of the Future Cast series hosted by the AT&T Foundry and Ericsson.

We learned that if you want people to come back to your product on their own, unprompted, then you need a hook that helps form a habit around its use. Four hooks actually. A trigger (that gets the user to use the product), an action (an interaction that yields a reward), a reward (something instantly fulfilling) and an investment (a benefit that builds through repeated action over time). These 4 hooks loop back together, so the increasing investment makes the subsequent trigger ever more compelling.

Sounds… addictive.

Nir says that there’s a difference between encouraging habits to be formed around the use of a product, and in encouraging addiction. This comes down to a judgment of the value of the habit being formed. Does the habit improve your life? Or is it bad for you? Do you want to give it up, but can’t?

Judging by the questions and lively discussion, some of us in the audience were unnerved by the unclear distinction, the gray area of when too much of a good thing starts to become a problem for someone.

Good to report then that Nir said his purpose in writing this book is two-fold. Firstly, to help companies develop successful, sticky, products (fair enough, if we trust that they will do no harm), and secondly, to build awareness of the habit-forming techniques that are being applied to us, as consumers.

Here’s to promoting good habits, but just to be sure, let the awareness building begin. Be an informed citizen in the Networked Society!

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]]>Why my home alarm is not about securityhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/06/why-my-home-alarm-is-not-about-security/ Mon, 06 Jul 2015 06:00:25 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7866My dog does not like to be alone. He absolutely hates it, to be quite honest. If left for more than a couple of hours, he literally starts climbing the walls. Although small, he jumps like a cat and easily reaches high places like tables and windowsills. But unlike cats, he knocks everything down [ ]

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]]>My dog does not like to be alone. He absolutely hates it, to be quite honest. If left for more than a couple of hours, he literally starts climbing the walls. Although small, he jumps like a cat and easily reaches high places like tables and windowsills. But unlike cats, he knocks everything down onto the floor.

We have had the dog for less than a year, and I quickly discovered that our home alarm really isn’t about security; it is about organizing family life. I have quite a bit of a commute to work so I often leave earlier than other family members. But now my smartphone tells me when others come and go, so when I see that my wife is the last to leave at 9 AM and no one is back by 11, I know it is time to remind my son to go home and take the dog out during his lunch break. Either that or the next thing to break will be the new vase in the windowsill.

So for me, getting a dog was the point where I realized that connecting my home to the internet is actually useful and not just geeky.

At Ericsson ConsumerLab, we have just published a study that you definitely should take a look at. Although it indicates that connecting your home is still slightly geeky, we might actually be at the point where normal people are getting involved.

And as you can see from the below graph, I am not the only one interested in a bit of control when I am not at home.

Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Connected Homes, 2015Base: People interested in connected home

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to walk the dog before he starts climbing the walls for reasons totally beyond both his control and mine. Oh, and if you are a burglar reading this and see an opportunity now that I am out for a walk – my alarm is not only for organizing family life!

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]]>Workcations – An exercise in flexibility and funhttp: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/2015/07/03/workcations-an-exercise-in-flexibility-and-fun/ Fri, 03 Jul 2015 06:00:16 +0000http: www.ericsson.com/thinkingahead/the-networked-society-blog/?p=7887As I type this, I’m sitting 3,000 miles from my office, awaiting the start of a visit to out-of-state friends for a holiday weekend here in the United States. I’m very lucky to have a boss who trusts me to do my work wherever I am, allowing me to arrange my travel plans for the [ ]

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]]>As I type this, I’m sitting 3,000 miles from my office, awaiting the start of a visit to out-of-state friends for a holiday weekend here in the United States. I’m very lucky to have a boss who trusts me to do my work wherever I am, allowing me to arrange my travel plans for the holiday around where I want to be rather than where I need to be.

This summer marks the rise of the “” – employees working from exotic (or simply remote) locales and enjoying a vacation or just time with faraway friends or family in off hours. It allows you to save money by traveling in off-peak seasons and at off-peak hours and save discretionary days off for when they’re truly needed. The workcation requires a flexible and kind boss, of course, but remote access to necessary work tools – not to mention one’s colleagues – wouldn’t be possible at all without the Networked Society connecting us from anywhere.From VPNs to smartphones, all manners of technology connect modern businesses across borders of geography, time and language. There is no denying that the modern era is more globalized than ever, so much so that some people complain there is never a non-working minute – it’s always the start of the working day somewhere.But with this inexorable bleeding of work time into personal time, flexibility in the work place in terms of location, hours on-site, and more is helping to keep employees satisfied with their work-life balance. It’s no wonder that almost half of the global working population considers it .That flexibility allows for enjoyable workcations by the beach, in the mountains or in a new cityscape, but it also enables working families to be together for more hours of the day, have more options for medical appointments and care, and enjoy myriad other means of life enrichment. Perhaps that is the true meaning of work-life balance – having the ability to work when you need to and take care of all of life’s minutiae (good and bad) when you need to do that, without restrictions.In the new era of work, companies and employees alike need to adjust to make the most of available time, from working hours to vacation hours, keeping both satisfied. I’ll happily log off at the end of the work day for some beach time with friends, but if anyone needs me I’m a phone call away.

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