It's a Tool, not a Toy

On an early summer morning in July 2007 I pulled up to the hotel to pick up my client. We were scheduled to drive several markets in the Nashville MSA. I had gone through the exercise before with my client, but this time was different because this site tour was the first time the vice president and director of real estate were along foe the ride.

The term make or break comes to mind as several sites were going to get a thumbs up or down based on the tour.

As we got into my vehicle and settled in, the VP flipped open his lap top and wedged in the adapter into the cigarette lighter. He grabbed a funny looking device, plugged it into his USB port and then took the end of the device and attached it to the windshield with a suction cup.

As I quickly learned, the VP was somewhat of a technology aficionado.

Once plugged in, he opened a program called Streets and Trips with GPS locator. I had never seen such a cool thing.

With this program you could take notes in the field and know your exact location.

"That's a cool toy," I said, trying to break the ice.

"Its a tool. Not a toy," he said plainly.

I stammered a bit before recovering. I wouldn't call that a great success at breaking the ice, but as the day went on the conversation flowed.

Looking back, I laugh at it now. But it's true. In real estate, one man's toy is another man's tool.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple Ipad earlier this year, I was dying to get it. For the first time, technology had delivered what I had been wanting for years - a fully portable, electronic leasing portfolio capable of emailing flyers with a touch of a button and zoom in on aerials or whiz through photos of a site with potential clients.

Of course when my wife heard about my new found obsession, she replied, "it's a toy. Not a tool."

It took a few months, but she finally caved in and indulged my inward technology geek and we bought the Ipad.

While I use it for work, yeah, I'm also guilty of writing this blog post on it too. So, I guess it's a little bit of both. A toy and a tool. Time will tell which one it is the most, but my money is on it being a tool.