Excel 2003 — or Excel 2012?
Maybe the “amen” I heard was just in my head, but I know that that’s what practically every other Realtor in the room was at least thinking when a colleague uttered the line above (at the weekly Exceptional Properties meeting).
In fact, at least for some of us Realtors these days, the sentiment is more like, “I don’t want to learn one more %@!&%! thing!”
That’s because, after years of pell-mell change, the pace of technological change in real estate is, if anything, accelerating now.
“Just Get Over It?”
If every change was an unequivocal advance, I’d agree that the gripers were Luddites who needed to “get with the program.”
And there certainly are innovations — such as electronic signatures — that genuinely make things easier and faster.
However, I’d characterize at least 2/3 of what’s billed as innovation today to in fact be “bloatware” — arcane features that (almost) no one is going to use, and which clutter and complicate previously easy-to-use software (are you listening, MLS?).
Exhibit A: Microsoft Excel now vs. a decade ago.
Ultimately, I think it boils down to this: is that great new feature or app a response to users’ needs?
Or, is it a solution in search of problem, being pushed by a vendor who’s trying to goose sales and/or bind their customers (even) more tightly to the company’s platform?
