The past year has been all about how to work more efficiently away from the office, primarily at home. Faster internet is more commonly available, and people are springing for better equipment for their new home office.

Supply Chain:

Unfortunately, this has contributed to the supply chain crisis. Each year, companies will look at the upcoming year, looking at forecasts for customer growth and the probability of ordering new equipment. Then they’ll go to their suppliers and place orders for the upcoming year so that they can manufacture the proper amount of their products. In 2020, many companies felt that by early in 2021, the Covid crisis would be well behind us. Everyone would be back at their offices and purchasing patterns would be “back to normal”. Manufacturers either ordered too much, or not enough. Luckily, we’re only seeing a slight delay of a few months for our customers ordering new equipment.

Electric Vehicles:

2021 also saw an increased acceptance of electric vehicles. More EVs are being ordered and delivered. But the supply chain crisis is hitting EV manufacturing as well. More EVs mean more families upgrading the electrical service to their homes. And it means that more rest areas along major highways are installing EV recharging stations. If you’re a road warrior like me, you’ll see more Service Areas temporarily closed for construction.

New Year, new Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 11 was released on October 5th. Apple released macOS12 (Monterey) on October 25. Before you upgrade to either of these new operating systems, give Chris a call to see if your current machine is compatible.

The Space Race:

This year not one, not two, but three billionaires went up to space in their own rockets. Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk. For anyone keeping track, that would be Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX.

Less well known is the Breakthrough Starshot project. Its goal is to gain firsthand information about the Alpaha Centauri system.

“In the last decade and a half, rapid technological advances have opened up the possibility of light-powered space travel at a significant fraction of light speed. This involves a groundbased light beamer pushing ultra-light nanocrafts – miniature space probes attached to lightsails – to speeds of up to 100 million miles an hour. Such a system would allow a flyby mission to reach Alpha Centauri in just over 20 years from launch, beaming home images of its recently-discovered planet Proxima b, …..” https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/ initiative/3

Zoom Fatigue:

It’s a thing. A recognized disorder. (Check out articles on Healthline.com, Psychiatrictimes.com, or even NationalGeographic.com.) Working from home so much and participating in online calls is stressful and exhausting. Some common recommendations are to limit the number of Zoom calls, turn off the video, and schedule the calls for times that work best for you.

Robotic food delivery:

One fun thing that’s expanded this year is robots delivering take-out. Since the pandemic, more robots are showing up on college campuses and city streets. They show up at their destination with a single order. The person enters a code, takes their meal, and the robot heads back to home-base for a charge and refill.

Information about Geek For Hire, Inc.

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has provided computer service to families and small businesses with Macs and PCs for the past nineteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly. You can find more on our website or give us a call at 303-618-0154. Our Covid Policy can be found here: https:// geekforhireinc.com/covid19-policy. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.