If Work Is Digital, Why Do We Still Go to the Office?

If Work Is Digital, Why Do We Still Go to the Office?\

“Distance will die,” or so predicted British economist Frances
Cairncross, along with a host of social and media theorists, following
the spread of the internet in the 1990s. When every place is connected
instantaneously to every other place on the planet, they argued, space
itself would become irrelevant. At that point, we would not need offices
anymore: Why go to work when work can come to you?


The well-known prediction by U.S. professor Melvin Webber seemed
imminent: “For the first time in history, it might be possible to locate
on a mountain top and to maintain intimate, real-time, and realistic
contact with business or other associates” (Webber M.M., 1973).
Instantaneous communication with everyone else on the planet — even from
the summit of Mount Everest — would soon render traditional offices
obsolete.


History has charted a far different course. Today’s technology does
allow global and instantaneous communication, but most of us still
commute to offices for work every day. Telecommuting from our homes (let
alone Mount Everest!) has not picked up as much as many thought it
would. Meanwhile, lots of corporations are investing significantly in
new or renovated office spaces located in the heart of urban areas.


What early digital commentators missed is that even if we can work from anywhere, that does not mean we want to. We strive for places that allow us to share knowledge, to generate ideas, and to pool talents and perspectives.