Why can't you do something about traffic?

I got one of these calls from the Pentagon. Brief the Undersecretary of the Air Force. tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. This is 2:00 pm in Los Angeles. So I got on a midnight plane, DC 6:00 am in the morning had breakfast at the airport, called the Pentagon, ‘Oh, that's been postponed till 10:00 am’ I went to the Pentagon, waited until 10:00 am, Ok, you ready? ‘No, it's been postponed to 2:00 pm.’ So I had lunch got to 1:30 pm. The meeting has been canceled. I never did brief the Undersecretary. I got on the 5:30pm, flew back to LA. - Jack (John) M Nilles

In the building I was working in two floors up, the general had a closed circuit color encrypted television system connecting directly to the Pentagon. I could have done the briefing that way and saved all this stuff, but I wasn't a general, so I couldn't use it. - Jack Nilles

I met an urban planner in Santa Barbara who said, 'If you guys can put man on the moon, why can't you do something about traffic?’ I thought, Whoa! Why not? - Jack Nilles

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The Remote Office Worker Origin Story

Jack dubbed it 'Telecommuting'

In 1970s Los Angeles, it was all about smog and traffic
You never saw the snow capped mountains
(visit now in February, snow everywhere)

Jack them created a position at USC, and found an insurance company in down town Los Angeles to be his first research subject, having San Fernando Valley workers go to a 'satellite' office on the north side of the hill, their work product uploaded to headquarters each night on the T1 line.

And how has technology evolved in cost and capability?

We're all carrying multiple high quality color encrypted audio and video streaming apps in our pocket, most of which cost next to nothing to operate. Not that long ago, you had to be a general, with a specific office, that only went point - to - point, each point being an expensive set up operation and cost.

Jack's a national treasure.

Full length conversation
Jack (John) M Nilles: Telecommuting, Tradeoffs, Resistance, Incentives | Work 20XX with Jeff Frick - -

- Transcript and Show notes - https://lnkd.in/dJJhhX8m

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