My gosh is Faith Popcorn overrated. Check out some of what she has to say in A Post-Privacy Future For Workers

Q: What will the office of the future look like?

A: The changes could start with the office remembering who sits where, what temperature they like, how soft they like the light to be. Also, there will be a lot of virtual reality, so you’ll do almost no traveling but meet virtually: People you are meeting with actually appear in your office.

You’ll also be able to watch your kids at the day-care center and be with them virtually. You’ll be able to [virtually] travel to Paris, London, Rome, to pick out the cuisine you want for your dinner — and it will be delivered to the lobby of your office before you go home.

Q: So it sounds like we’ll be mixing personal and official business more?

A: Yes. We’ll even have employees who will live on campus, supervising different tasks. That will be needed because we’re becoming a global society in which people, in different parts of the world, can work on a project 24 hours a day. So your workplace will become more of a 24-hour kind of a space.

Q: A lot of people think the opposite will happen: That because of mobile communications, employees will work from home more.

A: Well, that will happen. The home will be the office. Or, you’ll live right next to your office. And your employer will be taking care of all your personal and physical needs to increase your productivity. Your kids, your dinner, your clothing needs, your books, your movies — would all be provided through your company.

For instance, your vital signs will be measured at work. If the measurements say you have high cholesterol and too much fat in your diet, you might get prescription menus. And the food would be delivered to your refrigerator at your home nearby.

Q: A lot of people don’t want their companies to know what their cholesterol levels are. Wouldn’t this raise a lot of privacy concerns?

A: I think privacy is an issue of the past — there is no privacy. Already, when you order a book on Amazon.com you give up some of your privacy: Based on your choices, they provide you with other books that you might like to read. They follow your reading pattern. On eBay they compile lists of what you collect. So I think that privacy is a nice idea, but many people see it as something they’ve already lost.

Plus, I think people will get over such concerns when they see the tremendous convenience such technologies and services can offer.

Q: People already don’t use half the functions in their software. Why would employees want all of this new technology you talk about?

A: The problem with technology today is, in many cases, you have to read through instructions to figure out how to use all the features. What we need is voice controls. For instance, you should be able to say, “Bring my car around in front.” Or “I miss my mother. I want to see her.”