Caroline Mapanzure
Imagine what an achievement it was to get an ICDL certificate for being able to use all those software which I feel like calling applications because of the mobile platform that has taken over. Yes, mobile telecommunication has taken some space in our day to day functioning.
Whoever thought the post offices would be giant white elephants? At least that’s what we have seen and there is hope that they will spring back to action once online shopping takes shape. But for how long can they stand competition? The private courier services have also been building up their bases. Then the “little menaces” in the name of drones, are also set to change delivery. Imagine a newspaper, dial a delivery pizza, anytime flowers, you name it, being delivered by the drone to your doorstep. Will the post offices stand that heat or it’s trying to resuscitate a dead horse by buying it new horseshoes?
Which industry is safe? News on the go, television online, shopping online, distant learning, online doctor, online invitation cards, the robots, crypto currency and many more, who is the middleman? Can we all be techs, or internet service providers? What about ‘Data must fall’? Who then has a safe job to see them through their lifetime?
I have been encouraging my colleagues to take up digital marketing course to keep up with trends in our profession. My grade 2 son is doing graphic designing at school and am imagining how old I was when I first heard of graphic designing.
When I grew up, coal was one of the most important Zimbabwe minerals which brought foreign currency, cleaner forms of energy have emerged and it has also become expensive to mine the coal as it is no longer that shallow open cast mining. Yesteryear, a family man used to come back home with a newspaper, and now? At some point we knew tariffs for calling overseas, along came Skype call, Whatsapp call, Telegram call to our expose. BBM service just folded up, and by the way, how many still have the Blackberry? Wedding planning sending of cards was scheduled for 2 months before the wedding, and now, a card or video on social media has replaced all that paper and artistry let alone the personal touch that came with invitation cards.
So, in all this, where is technology or rather innovation, taking our jobs in Zimbabwe?
