Office furniture may not seem to have changed in the last 30 years. You still have a desk, a chair, filing cabinet, and phone sprinkled within cubicle walls. The differences are subtle, but it’s worth recognizing the strides companies make in the workplace.

Typewriter to PC

You traded in your typewriter for a computer, which was then upgraded a few times because it was obsolete the moment it was installed. At least there are games to play during the lunch break.

Fax to Email (and e-faxing)

With this change, we have replaced faxes with email and shortened the time to do just about everything. It’s also created the great impatience with having everything happen right now. That’s a large change that everyone notices, and here’s the differences in the things you may have missed due to the eyestrain.

From Open Spaces to Cubicles and Back Again

Cubicles were coming into vogue. The move from a large communal space like a secretarial pool changed into small personal spaces. Now, many forward-acting companies are moving away from them. The new office space looks more like a coffee house, with no space designated to a specific person and technology has granted the ability to work elsewhere, like from home.

Evolution of the Office Chair

The office chair went from having four casters to five. There are still five today, giving greater stability than the old models. Other improvements include ergonomic developments for comfort during long hours. The materials are moving toward foam and temperature controlling fabric. The back is higher and most models have arm rests. Each piece is adjustable to give the maximum number of users a satisfying experience.

From Chunky, Heavy Work Desk to the Practical, Slimline Workspace

Desks now come standard with holes to let your wires disappear. Many workers no longer have many large wooden desks with drawers, using instead work tables that allow more flexibility with respect to height adjustment and placement of tools.

From File to Dial
Instead of a rolodex, pagers and rotary dial phone, the everyday office worker now has touch tone phones and many have mobile phones, iPhones/Androids, PDAs, or other technological gadgetry to keep them connected when they’re not at their desks.

Many of these changes occurred because of advances in ergonomics and human factors. Professionals from these fields have made their niche reducing workplace injuries and improving health. As they learn more about how to work smarter, the workplace environment will continue to change to suit people better.

Many business persons find themselves constantly on the move. This has resulted in the adoption of the “mobile office,” namely powerful business tools that can be uploaded to any laptop and carried around. Here’s a quick top ten of the most useful business software tools for the mobile office.

10. Skype
Skype allows for live video and audio teleconferencing without the need for installing lots of fancy equipment. The sound quality is about as good as you’d get from a cell phone and the video is a bit choppy, but it gets the job done.

9. Flickr
Most people use Flickr as a cheap way to share photos with friends, but it’s also good for business. Uploading new designs, blueprints and other images to a company Flickr account means that anyone and everyone can see what you’re up to without you having to e-mail it to each of them.

8. Trillian
Many companies use MSN, Yahoo and AIM instant messengers to communicate with employees. Trillian connects to all three simultaneously, while using less RAM than any one of them.

7. GoToMyPC.com
GoToMyPC.com eliminates this problem of syncing a laptop and a desktop by permitting you to access your computer remotely from anywhere. This also means that if your laptop is stolen, no documents are lost or compromised.

6. LinkedIn.com
Social networking websites aren’t just for college students! LinkedIn permits business persons on the go to keep in touch with their contacts and business partners in real time.

5. Gmail
A lot of people see Gmail as nothing more than a free e-mail service, but it has phenomenal amounts of power. It’s able to check other e-mail accounts and copy the e-mails, it’s readily accessible, and works on just about any machine.

4. WWAN internet
Many companies offer this, but to explain, it’s internet you can access over the cell network. It’s important to shop around for good WWAN services, but they’re a lot more reliable and useful than hotspots.

3. Google Calendar
Writing down everything is essential, and Google Calendar does that. Like most Google products, it’s safe, simple and efficient, and it does it’s job.

2. PortableApps.com
This is a must for people who rely on many, many computers. It carries all the software and settings from one machine to another. This is especially important if you don’t own your laptop and are instead borrowing it from your company.

1. Google Docs
Google Documents are an online, remotely hosted, and powerful. It’s a full office suite you can access anywhere, and everywhere you go your documents are right there. It’s much easier and better than syncing software, and it’s free and easy to use.