Machines That Promote Honesty

Bleak is the word precisely described the present world’s economy.  The crisis started from the sub-prime mortgage problem, snowballing and eventually resulted in the avalanche of the equity market, the collapse of the banking system, and a series of disconcerted governments’ bailout. The impact seemed enormous, almost affecting all industries when the credit line blowing cold. Another Great Depression is around the corner, some economists commented.

Internet Bubble: Back to Basic

When the Internet bubble bursts in 2000, some calls, “Back to Basic” instead of “Business-to-Business”, one of the buzzwords during the Internet boom. Back to basic, seemed to be the solution when something turned sour. The basic list includes basic business logic, basic profitability capabilities, and basic corporate management system and etc.

Could we use the same medication, “Back to Basic” this time? I think it is a YES. Greed is the driving force pushing capitalism into another extreme, and too much of lies behind the greed painted the false image of prosperous.

Consequences of Greed

When there is more truth, it is fewer lies. And when one gets closer to the truth, meaning one would be far away from the lie, and the greed desire would be less possible.  Would anyone still bite an apple if he knew worms are wriggling inside? The truth is, in the financial market, vultures hovering the sky looking for the next prey. If investors obtained the true information, he would be more cautious.  

There is a famous quote from Abraham Lincoln that goes like this: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Instead of awareness coming too late after the house being burned down, shouldn’t we have a better system or corporate governance to ensure truth must be told beforehand? If yes, how?

I am not an economist, so I don’t prolong the topic. I just relate this basic principle to what FingerTec products try to achieve: no lie and be honest.

Honesty is a Virtue

When conventional punch clock system or card access system were introduced to the market, the problem of buddy-punching or proximity card being passed around the office or to outsiders had never been solved. Why? It was simply because the devices offer convenience to employees to commit lie. When this happened, truth is never shown in any companies’ financial report especially factories where staff’s working hours matter.

FingerTec video: Ghost Story

Honesty is a virtue. Some might be cynical when I’m telling that FingerTec promotes honesty when it prevents buddy punching by deploying biometric technology. Of course, the best honesty should come from one’s inner self, and should not be imposed by external force. Just like no bosses like to be fooled by employees, they shouldn’t become vulture themselves. 

I strongly believe that honesty is the basic principle before any solution for all kinds of crisis.

by Teh Hon Seng, CEO, FingerTec HQ