Instant Gratification

I think you will agree that we live in a world that demands instant gratification. This is a phenomenon, which is associated more with today’s generations than with mine. I must admit, however, that I have succumbed to the seductive nature of instant gratification. We want everything and we want it now! Just think about it. There is instant messaging, instant food, instant drinks, instant news coverage, instant cures, instant banking, the Internet, e-mail, express mail, and same day delivery. When I sat for the CPA exam it took up to three months before I received my grades; usually just in time to register for the next exam. Now that the CPA examination has been automated you can take the exam online and get your scores immediately thus delivering your instant gratification. This approach to testing has also arrived in the continuing professional education arena with online grading of CPE exams. I wonder why anyone would want to take a test, mail it in for grading and then have to wait weeks for the results when the same service is available online and provides instant gratification. One reason may be that there are people out there of my generation who are still hanging on to the old way of doing things. Do you think that once this generation retires from the profession that at some time in the future the only option available to us will be online grading?