Ok I thought we were talking about America which is locked into government entangled capitalism and will only funnel enhancements to the highest bidder. Yes absolutely, China will put it into the drinking water if they can. Isn't that a scary thought.
Your coffee machine isn't fully automated though, unless there is no more work then pushing a button and the coffee comes out in a disposable cup. Also it will be dispensing different coffee which you may not like as much, so it isn't really a good comparison.
You can still be politically slanted but still have journalistic integrity. It really comes down to having a system to flush out lies. Only since the popularization of the Internet have people truly stopped demanding truth.
I'm responding to the post you were replying to, which has disappeared for some reason
- List price of a 1970 Chevelle: $2719, what that is worth today: $16,939, price of a Chevy Malibu today (which IS the Chevelle): $21,680. You can get a Cruze for $16,975 which is a coupe, but not considered the same cost point as a Chevelle in 1970. Sure anything gets better over time but they still do the same thing which is to get you from point A to point B. The government has largely forced vehicles to get better over time in terms of safety and we are paying for it too.
- Clothes are not better. Blue jeans have only gotten thinner just in my lifetime and the cost has not gone down. Clothes that you throw out after five washes have gotten more varied, but it ends up costing people more. Plus having varied clothes really only matters if you are a person that focuses on how you dress. The days of being able to hand down clothes through three siblings are gone.
- Fast food and processed food has gotten cheaper and more plentiful but real food with real nutrition has only gone up. Check the price on a head of cauliflower lately.
- Entertainment is more plentiful and accessible: Who cares? Entertainment only distracts from the issues. If watching a movie was unaffordable, people still find entertainment. They go out on the street and throw a football around or draw, or whatever.
- Computer technology: I'm not convinced that computers have actually made anything better for us in the end. Sure I get a supercomputer in my pocket but we were fine before technology too. Do I really NEED to access the internet at all times? We just think we do because it is so common. I would be fine giving it up.
Houses, Education, Health Care: These are pretty much large requirements of any society to thrive. Interesting that you claim government forces are making these more expensive, since the Canadian government regulates their health care far more than the US and is paying 1/10 the cost.
Wendy's has already said they are doing it, there is no question about it, it is just a matter of time as restaurants get torn down and replaced. The others will follow.
Comparing this to the industrial revolution is apples to oranges. Just the impact that globalization has had has made the world a very different place. Back then companies grew and had no choice but to hire people to fuel the growth. These days we get three, four, five, six, seven bladed razors because companies can't grow nearly as easily into new products any more. The climate that existed in the industrial revolution-- America first and all that, is completely gone.
I don't know where I got 100 million from. It was a false recollection from the past. 232,000 restaurants in the US, times 20 employees per restaurant.. 4.6 million jobs. Still a significant amount and a valid point. Allow me to apologize for posting before I had a sufficient amount of coffee.
I just want to elaborate on your 'productivity improvements' point. If it were just about productivity improvements then companies wouldn't let people go once automated, they would use the idle hours to put towards growth. Unfortunately it is not just about productivity improvements, it is about cost savings. Also unfortunately, I am afraid you are correct about the end result.
The current wave is mostly about improving human productivity.
I disagree. They are only increasing human productivity because it helps them reduce costs. They would not be interested in automation if they had to hire just as many people to build and maintain it. Unless companies get interested in growing again the ultimate motive is always going to be to reduce labour costs and it is mathematically undeniable that there will be less money to be made by the employed.
I'm old enough to remember something called journalistic integrity and it was a big thing that people used to pay their news sources for. It is a sad aspect of today's world that we no longer consider an investment in a truth that is back checked worthwhile. Instead we have turned our backs on all "traditional" media which had journalistic integrity as a fundamental tenet and we just read anything that falls in front of our face.
Back when automobiles started to be mass produced, it had to be done LOCALLY. Furthermore, companies were focusing on GROWTH back then, not cost savings. The name of the game for Ford was to become the biggest company. There is no room for these companies to grow any more and they must focus on cost savings in order to keep their shareholders happy. Growth requires more jobs, cost savings requires the exact opposite. Unless we have companies that intend to grow with local labor the average person is screwed.
Fast food restaurants are going to be the first to automate. This alone will kill around 100 million jobs in the US. Furthermore, these aren't just 100 million 'generic' jobs like everyone tends to think of them as, but these are 100 million jobs that a student can do.. you know, the very kids that are supposed to be out there working hard to support their education so they can make it in the world. You can't tell me there will ever be 100 million drone pilots in the world, so this article has a long way to go to explain that.
That's 3.5 million drviers in tne US alone. How many globally? 10 million? The automated truck industry is not going to require 10 million programmers. It is only being DONE because it requires a vastly smaller labour force to support it ongoing.
Especially then the US seems content to give all the programming jobs to other countries over the last fifteen years. I'm not holding by breath that Trump will turn things around.
Excuse me? Show me any company that is willing to pass those savings onto customers! When any company reduces costs, they automatically think "It was our business direction that reduced these costs, therefore we shall reap the benefits."
Costs are never going down, no matter how much automation there is.
Slashdot Mirror
Configuration had to be done with a client provided only through Apple.
There was no http console on the airport I had.
Ok I thought we were talking about America which is locked into government entangled capitalism and will only funnel enhancements to the highest bidder. Yes absolutely, China will put it into the drinking water if they can. Isn't that a scary thought.
Your coffee machine isn't fully automated though, unless there is no more work then pushing a button and the coffee comes out in a disposable cup. Also it will be dispensing different coffee which you may not like as much, so it isn't really a good comparison.
I'm so glad my Airport router died. In true Apple fashion, you needed external software to configure it. Totally bizarre.
Not true, people get dogs because they feel a need for that type of companionship for either themselves or their families.
Most of them lived in parks during the great depression.
You can still be politically slanted but still have journalistic integrity. It really comes down to having a system to flush out lies. Only since the popularization of the Internet have people truly stopped demanding truth.
Corporations will never elect to start a price war in that circumstance. That just happens on paper.
I'm responding to the post you were replying to, which has disappeared for some reason
- List price of a 1970 Chevelle: $2719, what that is worth today: $16,939, price of a Chevy Malibu today (which IS the Chevelle): $21,680. You can get a Cruze for $16,975 which is a coupe, but not considered the same cost point as a Chevelle in 1970. Sure anything gets better over time but they still do the same thing which is to get you from point A to point B. The government has largely forced vehicles to get better over time in terms of safety and we are paying for it too.
- Clothes are not better. Blue jeans have only gotten thinner just in my lifetime and the cost has not gone down. Clothes that you throw out after five washes have gotten more varied, but it ends up costing people more. Plus having varied clothes really only matters if you are a person that focuses on how you dress. The days of being able to hand down clothes through three siblings are gone.
- Fast food and processed food has gotten cheaper and more plentiful but real food with real nutrition has only gone up. Check the price on a head of cauliflower lately.
- Entertainment is more plentiful and accessible: Who cares? Entertainment only distracts from the issues. If watching a movie was unaffordable, people still find entertainment. They go out on the street and throw a football around or draw, or whatever.
- Computer technology: I'm not convinced that computers have actually made anything better for us in the end. Sure I get a supercomputer in my pocket but we were fine before technology too. Do I really NEED to access the internet at all times? We just think we do because it is so common. I would be fine giving it up.
Houses, Education, Health Care: These are pretty much large requirements of any society to thrive. Interesting that you claim government forces are making these more expensive, since the Canadian government regulates their health care far more than the US and is paying 1/10 the cost.
Wendy's has already said they are doing it, there is no question about it, it is just a matter of time as restaurants get torn down and replaced. The others will follow.
None of it matters of course because globalization has taken much of the car industry away anyway.
Comparing this to the industrial revolution is apples to oranges. Just the impact that globalization has had has made the world a very different place. Back then companies grew and had no choice but to hire people to fuel the growth. These days we get three, four, five, six, seven bladed razors because companies can't grow nearly as easily into new products any more. The climate that existed in the industrial revolution-- America first and all that, is completely gone.
Cat puke on the floor suddenly becomes highly fashionable.
I don't know where I got 100 million from. It was a false recollection from the past. 232,000 restaurants in the US, times 20 employees per restaurant.. 4.6 million jobs. Still a significant amount and a valid point. Allow me to apologize for posting before I had a sufficient amount of coffee.
I just want to elaborate on your 'productivity improvements' point. If it were just about productivity improvements then companies wouldn't let people go once automated, they would use the idle hours to put towards growth. Unfortunately it is not just about productivity improvements, it is about cost savings. Also unfortunately, I am afraid you are correct about the end result.
The current wave is mostly about improving human productivity.
I disagree. They are only increasing human productivity because it helps them reduce costs. They would not be interested in automation if they had to hire just as many people to build and maintain it. Unless companies get interested in growing again the ultimate motive is always going to be to reduce labour costs and it is mathematically undeniable that there will be less money to be made by the employed.
If there were ever such genetic enhancements available, they WON'T be going to the people without money.
I'm old enough to remember something called journalistic integrity and it was a big thing that people used to pay their news sources for. It is a sad aspect of today's world that we no longer consider an investment in a truth that is back checked worthwhile. Instead we have turned our backs on all "traditional" media which had journalistic integrity as a fundamental tenet and we just read anything that falls in front of our face.
Back when automobiles started to be mass produced, it had to be done LOCALLY. Furthermore, companies were focusing on GROWTH back then, not cost savings. The name of the game for Ford was to become the biggest company. There is no room for these companies to grow any more and they must focus on cost savings in order to keep their shareholders happy. Growth requires more jobs, cost savings requires the exact opposite. Unless we have companies that intend to grow with local labor the average person is screwed.
Fast food restaurants are going to be the first to automate. This alone will kill around 100 million jobs in the US. Furthermore, these aren't just 100 million 'generic' jobs like everyone tends to think of them as, but these are 100 million jobs that a student can do.. you know, the very kids that are supposed to be out there working hard to support their education so they can make it in the world. You can't tell me there will ever be 100 million drone pilots in the world, so this article has a long way to go to explain that.
That's 3.5 million drviers in tne US alone. How many globally? 10 million? The automated truck industry is not going to require 10 million programmers. It is only being DONE because it requires a vastly smaller labour force to support it ongoing.
Especially then the US seems content to give all the programming jobs to other countries over the last fifteen years. I'm not holding by breath that Trump will turn things around.
Excuse me? Show me any company that is willing to pass those savings onto customers! When any company reduces costs, they automatically think "It was our business direction that reduced these costs, therefore we shall reap the benefits."
Costs are never going down, no matter how much automation there is.
Then I think I get NoSQL even less, since that seems to be listed as one of the main benefits to NoSQL on any 'Why use NoSQL' page that I read.