Comment by tptacek
2 months ago
I think most of the time when we tell ourselves this, it's cope. Software is automation. "Computers" used to be people! Literally, people.
2 months ago
I think most of the time when we tell ourselves this, it's cope. Software is automation. "Computers" used to be people! Literally, people.
> "Computers" used to be people! Literally, people.
Not always. Recruitment budgets have limits, so it's a fixed number of employees either providing services to a larger number of customers thanks to software, or serving fewer customers or do so less often without the software.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
Thank you for the link, the reference you're making slipped past me. That said, I think my point still holds: software doesn't always have to displace workers, it can also help current employees scale their efforts when bringing on more people isn't possible.
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I'm unable and unwilling to shadowbox with what you think I'm actually experiencing.
That's fine; read it as me speaking to the whole thread, not challenging you directly. Technology drives economic productivity; increasing economic productivity generally implies worker displacement. That workers come out ahead in the long run (they have in the past; it's obviously not a guarantee) is besides my point. Software is automating software development away, the same way it automated a huge percentage of (say) law firm billable hours away. We'd better be ready to suck it up!
> That workers come out ahead in the long run (they have in the past...)
Would you mind naming a few instance of the workers coming out ahead?
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