Time to Update

The late Steve Jobs predicted one day that tablets would outsell traditional personal computers. This year, for the first time, tablets are expected to outsell PCs and prove what Jobs theorised with the launch of the first iPad- exactly five years ago today.

Smart technology which challenges conventions does not necessarily prove popular based on the complex algorithms behind how it works, it is instead embraced by those who see an immediate benefit from its use. Before tablets, many people were satisfied to work with their computer and smart phone, without ever realising a need for an addition product. Conventions had set in and people thought they were working efficiently enough with what they had. What if that same way of thinking is being applied in our industry today?

To challenge the conventional ways of operating and providing services in oil and gas, we can’t just improve on the equipment and technology we currently have. We have to be brave enough to think laterally and review our processes from their very conception.

The colossal growth in demand for tablets may not be so easily mirrored by other products in other industries, as not many devices are as user friendly and agreeable as the most popular tablet devices. What we can learn from the past five years is that changes in the day to day running of businesses is inevitable, and we can either be making and manufacturing our industry’s evolution, or can be the consumers waiting to be marketed to.

Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm, have predicted worldwide sales of 320 million tablets this year, compared to 316 million PCs- including laptops. Those figures are also based on the presumption that businesses will continue to upgrade PC software and hardware. These figures may be startling to some who haven’t embraced tablets into their own day to day work or life, but for many of us in the industry the popularity of these devices is widely known, as more and more often we are asked to format programmes to fit tablet specifications.

Oil and gas industry leaders say there is decades of oil exploration left in the North Sea- some estimate as high as 24 billion barrels remain. It is up to the sector to decide whether to pursue that using the same old equipment that we think works well enough, or to challenge conventional methods and upgrade for the next generation.