Activity 1 Tool Man

John’s job as a sales representative could benefit greatly from the introduction of ICT technology.
John could use a GPS in his car so that he no longer required carrying around a large A-Z with him. It would also mean that he could find new clients much easier than with an A-Z and wouldn’t need to stop to check his route.
John could benefit greatly from a PDA or a laptop. This would mean that he would not have to carry his bulky calculator, sales catalogue or order forms. These could all be taken care of with software on a laptop such as Microsoft Office Excel for his order forms and Microsoft Office Access for his Sales Catalogue.
John could use a mobile phone so that he doesn’t have to carry round an assortment of coins for payphones.
John could also use the internet to email all his sales figures and orders to another member of staff so that he doesn’t have to spend extra time at the end of each day doing administration work.

The disadvantages for John with this technology would be learning how to use this technology and also solving any problems or errors that might occur. However once these may have been overcome Johns would be significantly more efficient.
Another disadvantage of all of the technology would be the cost of purchase. Unless John’s company paid for all the equipment for him then it would be a large expense that he may not find cost effective.