Nobody beats Our FINGERTIPS page 44 - AND YOU'LL MAKE YOUR DEAL HERE! JUST COMPARE... SAVE 35% - 50% When clients call him at home, 'LT: Mr. Fishman feels like he's sitting Ff at his office desk. "No matter where I'm at, I'm on the cutting edge," said the Mil- ford resident. "This is critical for my business because clients do call me at home, in the evening and on weekends. And when someone from California makes an inquiry at 7 p.m., I want to have everything at my fingertips so I can provide them with on-the- spot information. I need that edge to compete and I'm glad I have it" The portable power of the lap- top is also a blessing for Mrs. Robinson, senior consultant and project manager at Childs Con- sulting Associates Inc. in South- field. She carries her work around with her on a diskette, operating out of an office, her home, or some- where on her far-flung travels. Mrs. Robinson, whose work en- tails customizing computer pro- grams and providing technical support, totes a three-pound lap- top whenever she works with a client here, in Florida, Great Britain or South America. "I like to travel light, but when I'm developing software docu- mentation, accuracy is critical and I take notes regarding the client's requirements directly on the com- puter. I seldom do any handwrit- ten note-taking. The fact is, I'm looking forward to when I can af- ford a voice-activated laptop. Then the computer will do the complete note-taking process and I can dis- cuss specific areas with my client in detail. That should save a lot of time and I should be able to pro- vide more services," she said. Even with these advantages, Mrs. Robinson, 54, sees a down- side to working exclusively via cy- berspace. "I can work on projects by my- self simply using a fax and a com- puter and never make contact with another human being. But I think personal contact is impor- tant. I believe I do a better job by talking to my peers — face to face — getting their suggestions and ideas. "On the other hand, there's al- ways the personal convenience. For instance, my son had some minor surgery and I took work home on a diskette so that I didn't have to commute from office to home to hospital. I made life eas- ier for myself during his stay at the hospital and at the same time accomplished some work. You can't beat that combination." Laurence Cutler, president of Omni Information, a Southfield consulting firm, said computers in general have changed the lifestyles of many of his clients. "Most businesses are flexing their muscles with computers and no longer using them as high-tech typewriters," Mr. Cutler ex- plained. 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"I think using your computer at home for your business works if you're a very disciplined person and know when to stop," said Mr. Kloc, whose firm produces visual database programs for business- es that catalog, archive and dis- tribute information. "On the other hand, it's been a real boon for our boys, who are 10 and 12. I've taught them to use the Internet and they're very com- fortable exploring the on-line pro- grams. Browsing the Web is second nature to them." Mr. Kloc also believes that com- puters have reduced much un- productive time for many people. "Instead of commuting for two hours daily, a person on our sales staff can stay here in Berkley or in California using our database and work on orders using the corn- puter, the fax and the phone." Working outside the office seems to be one of the greater ad- vantages of the laptop. Mr. Cut- ler said some companies have employees stay home one day a week and work, freeing up not only office space but also equip- ment needs, making it less cost- ly to operate a business. Improvements in telecommu- nications offer even more poten- tial because they can break down the isolation of the office or home. People are able to see and speak with each other, sharing ideas and techniques and learning from collaborated efforts. It's like- ly to be far more common that a team can work at a project and still be located in three different cities rather than at one office. ❑