In a previous post I spent a number of words describing some of the reasons why construction people find it difficult to adopt technology. One of those reasons had to do with how people see the value in the technology – or rather in some cases the lack of value.

Greg Tarrant over at Blocklayer.com wrote more about that and added some depth from his experience.

I’ve been battling to drag the construction industry into the ‘Computer Age’ for many years.

At the actual (physical) construction end of the industry, there are many efficiencies to be gained by using technology delivered by computer – especially mobile internet, onsite, at the point of construction.

The problems I’ve most encountered are, even if people understand the dollars and time benefits, they are reluctant to commit to learning a new (and often intimidating) skill/technology that seems so alien to their trusted tools and techniques.

Slowly, tradespeople are starting to realize the benefits of instant calculations/plan generation etc. that this new technology enables.

One thing in particular I have discovered, is that when presenting a new technique to a reluctant new user, unless they can see the end result first, they consider the process too difficult, or the result not worth the effort. Each of my solutions starts with the end result (plans, dimensions etc), using default (nominal) input data, so it shows the user what they get for their efforts. They then re-enter or edit the input to re-create their results.

Well put, Greg. You can see this idea in action at Greg’s site. People are bound to adopt things much quicker and easier when they have a clear idea of the benefits.

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