I wish there was a negative comment modifier called: "Stop with the overused, paranoid theory that robots will ruin the economy by unemploying uneducated people".
**(For the record, I don't downmod comments)**
The whole robots/unemployment thing has been hashed out repeatedly, argued even before there was a term/name for "robots". The following is the outline of personal notes i used for a speech i had to give in speech class a few years ago:
WHY ROBOTS WON'T TAKE ALL JOBS.txt
first, if everyone loses their jobs and have no money, there will be no one buying anything the robots make or services the robots offer, and then the companies won't be able to get any money to build and maintain the robots.
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nor will we loose all the current type of jobs, like service jobs.
why? people will not allow this to occur. we need to be able to talk to an actual person. computers can't tell if you are getting frustrated.
like ATMs didn't replace all the bank tellers, computers can't replace the personal touch. how many of y'all get pissed-off using those automated call systems? "press two if business, press three if residential, press four....."
Arby's offered automated ordering - touch screens where you could order your own food. a lot of people did not use it. it was not successful.
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automation will only be used where it can reduce costs, wich means lower prices, which means we can buy more stuff. it makes us all richer.
7000 years ago... the invention of the hammer unemployed a lot of people who used rocks (they prolly went into farming).
printing presses wiped out the hand copied manuscript industry, but made books available to everyone.
people always find something else to do, or else we would all be unemployed already!
for example: the robot industry will create millions of new jobs to program/design/manufacture the robots
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funny: how about buy your own robot and then have it go to work for you, while YOU get paid. now THAT's labor saving!
I understand how pollution could lead to these increases in bacteria etc. Is it possible that the increase in methane gas (as noted here http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2274439& page=1) could also be playing a role in what life is able to survive while others do not?
Like many of you when I joined Nexflix I thought I had discovered the answer to all my movie watching dilemas. For the first few weeks I was watching and returning movies like a mad woman and spending hours creating a queue that 3 months later is still unmanageable. While I still enjoy my subscription, my zeal for it has subsided somewhat.
I will say that Netflix has 2 great features that will keep me as a customer. First, it gives me access to movies not often found in my local video store. Secondly, it gives me a place to maintain a list of movies that I think I might someday want to see. (Due to a quite enjoyable college experience my memory is not what it used to be and there is no way I could remember all these movie titles!)
On the down side, I have noticed that somehow the Netflix "powers that be" know when I desperately need a quick turn around on my video exchange and somehow make sure that I get my DVD 3 days after I need it.
Complaining about having an abundance of DVDs to watch and an unlimited time frame to watch them in seems a little whiny and spoiled to me. I'll gladly trade my life with anyone who considers this their greatest problem.
Slashdot Mirror
Can you see me now?.....
Can you see me now?.....
**(For the record, I don't downmod comments)**
The whole robots/unemployment thing has been hashed out repeatedly, argued even before there was a term/name for "robots". The following is the outline of personal notes i used for a speech i had to give in speech class a few years ago:
What difference does it make how much longer Blu-ray is? Does anyone actually get past the first 15 minutes of porn often enough for it to matter?
Yes, it does seem that every few years "The High Tech Home of Tomorrow" becomes a popular buzzword, yet never arrives.
Where is the Smart Home?
Hell, my oven still burns the frozen pizzas, and i have to monitor my dryer constantly to make sure it doesn't melt my socks.
Now we will all have to relearn the catch jingles we were taught in elementary school to help us memorize the planets.
I understand how pollution could lead to these increases in bacteria etc. Is it possible that the increase in methane gas (as noted here http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2274439& page=1) could also be playing a role in what life is able to survive while others do not?
Like many of you when I joined Nexflix I thought I had discovered the answer to all my movie watching dilemas. For the first few weeks I was watching and returning movies like a mad woman and spending hours creating a queue that 3 months later is still unmanageable. While I still enjoy my subscription, my zeal for it has subsided somewhat.
I will say that Netflix has 2 great features that will keep me as a customer. First, it gives me access to movies not often found in my local video store. Secondly, it gives me a place to maintain a list of movies that I think I might someday want to see. (Due to a quite enjoyable college experience my memory is not what it used to be and there is no way I could remember all these movie titles!)
On the down side, I have noticed that somehow the Netflix "powers that be" know when I desperately need a quick turn around on my video exchange and somehow make sure that I get my DVD 3 days after I need it.
Complaining about having an abundance of DVDs to watch and an unlimited time frame to watch them in seems a little whiny and spoiled to me. I'll gladly trade my life with anyone who considers this their greatest problem.