I like to consider myself tech-savvy. I read Mashable and TechCrunch and Wired. I can do practically anything on my iPhone, from build a spreadsheet to adopt a puppy to make a stop-motion video. My home systems are all wirelessly connected and remotely accessible via the cloud. I tweet and Skype, stream music on Pandora, read books on my Kindle, interact on Quota and Plinky, check in on Yelp, and buy skydiving deals through LivingSocial. I haven’t written a check to pay a bill in years. I use Dropbox and MailChimp and every Google app imaginable. And I can probably solve the problem you’re having with your computer or software without having to ring up a call center in India. Yet despite all of this, I am eternally playing technology catch-up.
No matter how many gadgets and gizmos I have, or tech blogs I read, or new Web tools I learn to use, it seems like another one is lurking around the corner waiting to make me feel obsolete. In a nutshell, it’s an exhausting, never-ending circle, albeit an addictive one.
Does that mean we give up? No. Instead, we embrace the never-quite-there feeling. It drives us to constantly innovate and learn and expand the way we consume and use information. Sure, there are plenty of debates about the ROI of these various initiatives, but the truth is that consumers, particularly Gen Yers, expect you to be “with it”—whether or not that technology affects the bottom line.
So it’s no surprise that when we were putting the finishing touches on this issue—our annual Spring Technology Guide, which is chock-full of ideas, tips, insight, and forecasts for the apartment tech sector—we also wanted to put to use all the technology available to us as a publishing company. We asked for suggestions and compiled the gems: Set up a LinkedIn thread to discuss the issue’s trends; use 2-D tags to link to expanded content available only on MultifamilyExecutive.com; build a Google map highlighting the most technologically advanced apartment complexes across the country.
I liked them all, which means you get to experience them all. On this page, you’ll find a 2-D tag that will link you to the Tech Guide’s online home, where you’ll find additional resources and links. If you join our LinkedIn community (search for the group name “Multifamily Executive”), you can join in on the “2011 Spring Tech Guide” discussion stream to share ideas.
And as for the last idea, I’m very eager to pull together a map that highlights the 10 or 20 or 30 most technologically advanced apartment communities in the country. But rather than pick and choose the tech-savvy projects I am aware of, I’m issuing a call for nominations: Do you have a gadget-friendly, futuristic apartment community that you would name one of the most advanced around? If so, please shoot an e-mail to senior editor (and resident tech expert) Chris Wood at [email protected]. We’re excited to hear about it.
And of course, when we have culled the winners and built the tool, with all of its mighty bells and whistles, we’ll notify all of you via our e-newsletter, LinkedIn account, Facebook newsfeed, a Twitter post, and possibly even via a video on a VYou channel.
Oh … haven’t heard of that last one yet? You will. Hopefully before the tech world has moved on to the next big thing.
