[Gllug] Internet connections

[Ben Fitzgerald]

On Thu, Jan 12, 2006 at 12:00:47PM +0000, t.clarke wrote:
> Re: insurance on buildings next to rivers
> 
> The example you quote seems to me to be yet another instance of an unfortunate
> negative side-effect of more and more computerisation:
> 
> As companies introduce more computerisation they inevitably de-skill the work-
> force and furthermore often take the decision-making process out of the hands of
> individuals and leave it completely with the computer-system.
> Hence the now notorious  and oft-quoted "Computer says no"    !!!
> 
> I remember the days when staff working in Banks had to understand banking
> rules and practises   - not any more it seems,  unless you manage to claw your
> way up the heirarchy to speak to someone.

Hi Tim,

I can agree with this to some extent, but the flip side is embodied in
this popular quote:

"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations
which we can perform without thinking of them."  Alfred North Whitehead

As a silly example, if I had to punch this message out onto a punch card
and then feed it into a machine I would likely understand how characters
are encoded better but as someone worried about this in the 1960s (or
whenever!) I can now get on with higher level tasks like replying to mailing
lists! :-)

Where this will lead, who knows. Specialisation may be very granular in
30 years time. Whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages is a
good question. I think that they do, on balance. Time will tell.

Ben.

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