According to the media, millennials are flaky, cellphone-obsessed navel-gazers; unwilling to pay their dues, but wanting all of the participation medals.

However, they forget to mention that millennials are digital natives, so it’s natural that tech has shaped many of their personal characteristics; often, very positively.

Consider social media: While the negatives are well-documented, it has also facilitated globalisation. We’re connected to people from all around the world, and many who may have felt powerless before now have a voice.

This access to a diverse society has made millennials informed, empathetic, and more inclined to carve out their own space in the world.

What’s equally true is that while the development of the millennial mindset has been facilitated by technology, the evolving needs of the millennial workforce have also inspired the rise of new technologies.

Millennials want mobility

Cloud, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and web-based services are all millennial-friendly, as they facilitate mobility. Millennials place greater emphasis on work-life balance than previous generations. They’re willing to put in the work, but understandably less inclined to be chained to a desk.

They are drawn to new roles

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a host of new jobs materialise, which did not exist previously: social media manager, influencer, vlogger, UX specialist, sound engineer, etc.

With millennials seeking non-traditional careers, we’re seeing a massive demand for external devices that are portable but do not compromise on quality.

LaCie’s DJI Copilot, for example, features a hard-wearing exterior, an SD card slot and a USB port to copy photo and video files directly from your device – no laptop needed – making it a firm favourite among content creators, drone operators, film producers and photographers.

Millennials are producing content constantly

Millennials are comfortable with creating and publishing content, switching seamlessly between multiple platforms several of times a day. And as the frequency of production increases, so does the need for adequate storage.

The early iPhone offered a maximum storage capacity of 16GB. Today’s iPhone offers up to 512GB. Millennials have two non-negotiables: speed and capacity. It is these criteria that informed the design of LaCie’s big RAID Storage range.

Former CNET editor Dong Ngo admitted that LaCie’s 12big was the fastest storage device he’d seen, remarking that one could finish transferring 25GB in less than 20 seconds.

Growing up with technology means that millennials demand a lot from their devices and software. This makes them a catalyst for change in the workplace, and a driving force behind the creation of new technologies.

For more information, visit www.directservices.co.za. You can also follow Direct Distribution Services on Facebook or on Twitter.  

*Image courtesy of Vecteezy