4 ms·

I have conflicting feelings about this article. Firstly, I don't by choice use any Microsoft products, so this is not a defence of that company. Secondly, I a

I have conflicting feelings about this article. Firstly, I don't by choice use any Microsoft products, so this is not a defence of that company. Secondly, I also fully agree that work can wait and my employer should not be intruding on my personal time, outside of office hours. However, I have a passion for something and I have a young family. Between my paid work commitments and the fabulous time I spend with my family, I have only a limited amount of time to dedicate to my passion. I would like to hope that one day, my passion can generate enough income that I can give up "work." (I know that's a whole other conversation about whether that is a good thing). What I really want are tools which assist in enabling me to make as much progress with my passion, in the limited time available to me. If that means doing something while on holiday, from work, so be it. Does it make me one of the 47%? There are of course lines which should be in place and a correct balance found, especially when it comes to family activities. However, I do want tools to keep me informed about the latest events regarding my passion and effective ways to react to that news while away from a desktop/laptop computer.

prof_hobart 10y ago
I agree. The critical question isn't "should I be attending a meeting when I'm walking in the countryside?". It's "what's the alternative?" If it's that you can be walking in the countryside when you would previously have had to come into the office for a meeting, then that's great. If, on the other hand, it's that you've now got no excuse for not working in times you would previously have been resting, then that's pretty bad. I work in a company that offers pretty good flexibility. You aren't expected to be answering your emails when you're on holiday, but you are often able to work from home if that helps with your particular situation. I've got my kid's school play in a few weeks, and I could not do a full day in the office and get back to watch it. But I can stay at home, work in the morning and the evening, and then go to the play in the afternoon. I could also choose to take the entire day off as holiday of course, but then I'd be losing a day's holiday. I appreciate this kind of flexibility. Of course, there's plenty of companies who take the opposite tack - if you've got a work phone, you're now available to be working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The advert at the bottom is pretty poor, because it seems to be very much pushing that message. But most of the original ones could be read either way.
- phillc73 10y ago
  I must admit I didn't watch the new advert video due to the "do not track" warning. "This embedded content is from a site that does not comply with the Do Not Track (DNT) setting now enabled on your browser. Please note, if you click through and view it anyway, you may be tracked by the website hosting the embed."

prof_hobart 10y ago

I agree. The critical question isn't "should I be attending a meeting when I'm walking in the countryside?". It's "what's the alternative?" If it's that you can be walking in the countryside when you would previously have had to come into the office for a meeting, then that's great. If, on the other hand, it's that you've now got no excuse for not working in times you would previously have been resting, then that's pretty bad. I work in a company that offers pretty good flexibility. You aren't expected to be answering your emails when you're on holiday, but you are often able to work from home if that helps with your particular situation. I've got my kid's school play in a few weeks, and I could not do a full day in the office and get back to watch it. But I can stay at home, work in the morning and the evening, and then go to the play in the afternoon. I could also choose to take the entire day off as holiday of course, but then I'd be losing a day's holiday. I appreciate this kind of flexibility. Of course, there's plenty of companies who take the opposite tack - if you've got a work phone, you're now available to be working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The advert at the bottom is pretty poor, because it seems to be very much pushing that message. But most of the original ones could be read either way.

phillc73 10y ago
I must admit I didn't watch the new advert video due to the "do not track" warning. "This embedded content is from a site that does not comply with the Do Not Track (DNT) setting now enabled on your browser. Please note, if you click through and view it anyway, you may be tracked by the website hosting the embed."