Staying Tethered

It is now very easy for the mobile worker to produce billable work while on a ski holiday.  I'm not referring to some sort of client schmooze, or a seminar in Aspen on behalf of some large corporate employer, though these are both highly respected and sought-after ways to get paid by just about anyone who skis.   No, what I mean is that, using the technology now available, a consultant can keep up to date on email, answer calls, work on code and deploy software from virtually anywhere in the world thanks to 3g Cellular data networks and powerful, portable computers.  In my case, a Macbook Pro and an iPhone.  

Hands down, my favourite thing about the iPhone is the Tethering feature.  This allows the phone to act as a wireless hotspot for my laptop.  It's actually quite fast - averaging about 2 Mbps download, which is only slightly slower than my home dsl service.  Where I live (Toronto, Canada) my cell carrier (Rogers) requires that I subscribe to a 1GB data plan in order to use the Tethering functionality.  This runs me about $65 per month.  

It's dead-easy to use.  On my Macbook, I just click on the bluetooth icon, scroll down to "iPhone", and select "Connect to Network".  In about 10 seconds, I'm on-line and doing anything I can do in the office.  I'm using virtualization software to run Microsoft Windows XP on my macintosh. I believe it is possible to obtain the same connectivity using a Windows pc, but I can't speak to the effort of setting it up.

Independent Consultants who are any good provide quick response to phone calls - new business prospects move on if you don't follow-up instantly.  Existing customers expect a certain level of support.  Installed code needs to work.  If your macro's break down during report crunch time, and you can't get to it until next Monday... ugh. it's a major falling down and this can impact other people, cost you business, and destroy your credibility and self-esteem... well, maybe not all that, but it depends on the standards you set for yourself.  

With the right tools we can avoid touchy situations and still do the things we love: An email comes through on the chairlift at 10:30 am, asking for help.  You bomb back to the cabin for a 20 minute bug fix, uploading the 10MB file to your grateful client.  You then fire off a quote for another job that came in, and slide back to the slopes for a few more runs before Lunch.  After the skiing (or wake-boarding, or golfing, or whatever sort of lifestyle you're trying to include in your life) is done for they day, you might put in a few hours more before dinner just to keep on top of ongoing projects.     

In olden times, before mobile office technology, we had to work for companies and book annual vacation time, during which we forgot about work for two weeks and let other people take care of things.  But then for the rest of the year we had to show up every weekday, right on time, and stay there all day long.  Times are changing.