Technology Catch 22

Working online daily in the technology playground comes second nature to virtual assistants and virtual professionals across the various niches. From email to Skype, working in a Word or .pdf document, or cruising the Net in web-based systems such as Freshbook, Smartsheet, Basecamp, Google docs or one of the social media dashboards, there’s a lot that can be taken for granted when it comes to using the latest tech systems and tools. With so many different options have you ever stumbled into a Technology Catch 22?

The Catch 22 comes into play when you’re using the snazzy latest version of ‘whatever’ and it all comes into a screeching halt when your client or colleague who you want to share a file with, well, isn’t. Sometimes, this speed bump can really add another hurdle to overcome like PC users verses Mac users and finding just the right software that is compatible for both to freely exchange documents.

Recently my Catch 22 came in the way of using a .pdf fillable form. The client requested fillable forms created in Adobe Acrobat – no problem. These neat little forms are saved as a .pdf and when sent to someone the individual tabs from field to field to insert their information. At the bottom of the form was a button to click – automatically emailing the form back to the sender with a place to add a personal message, if desired. Sweet!

Now, the problem came when the client forwarded the form to someone who didn’t have an updated Adobe Reader installed on their computer. It does happen. Believe it or not, not everyone uses their readers often therefore an occasional update can be missed.

So, how was this fixed? Any time the form is sent a few sentences mentioning that the form is best viewed and used with Adobe Reader (in one of these versions) plus the link to Adobe is included in the body of the message. Problem easily solved.

Tell me about some Catch 22’s you’ve experienced and how you’ve overcome them.