10 Tech Rules to Guide Users

I've been thinking for the past few months about some 'rules' (guidelines, whatever you want to call them) that people who have to deal with technology should think about. I've made a lot of mistakes by pushing the envelope, but I've also developed some above-average instincts for where the trouble areas lie in adopting new technology. 

Whether your goal is to become paperless, or just to get more out of the technology you use, you need to (1) find the easy ways to do things and (2) avoid the hard ones. Technology promises a lot, and can deliver on many of those promises, but not all of them.

Some propositions that seem wonderful when you hear about them don’t work well when you try them. But there are some things that work great and cost almost nothing; often you’ll find that people don’t adopt these technologies because they don’t know it’s available. Or they resist a technology that seems (to them at least) more dangerous than it really is. Here are 10 key rules you should be aware of. If you work against these rules things will tend to be harder; you’ll spend more money, waste more time, and encounter more stress. That's my theory anyway. Feel free to send me comments if you disagree with any of the propositions.