Should computers be banned in business?

[Nayabone]

computers create jobs. Someone has to build them, someone has to repair them, someone has to sell them, etc, etc...
why did I answer this stupid post??

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by Nayabone

computers create jobs. Someone has to build them, someone has to repair them, someone has to sell them, etc, etc...
why did I answer this stupid post??

for the same reason you post in this forum, you are a glutton for punishment.

[2nd trick op]

The issue hasn't been raised, and Luddism surely is not the answer, but the cybernetic revolution has diminished the options for a substantial number of people, many of them in their mature years, who formerly supported themselves via now-automated skills.

For a number of years I workd as a motor fleet dispatcher, for several compamies which operated over a wide segment of North America. I had a reputation as "Mr. Rand McNally"; I not only could tell you how to get from here to most of the places that counted -- I could tel you how to get directly from one to the other. Computerized routing systems and GPS took a kot of the marketability out of that skill.

I will readily admit to an introverted personality; I'd rather work in a small group, or even alone, and at a non-tradilional hour, than to take a back-row desk in a large office or call center, there to be micro-managed by an agressive and intrusive supervisor, whose goal is often little more than a uniform mediocrity. But the ability to move business around the globe, and to avoid dependency on a handful of specially-skilled employees geared to 24/7 operation, has likewise diminished that option.

Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer opportuities for "lighthouse keepers" out there.

[OzzyRules]

A computer is just as bad as any other simple man-made tool.

Even something as simple as a shovel. Or a knife. An axe. A fork. A water hose.

The wheel.

A man-made lock on a door prohibits someone who could be hired for good money to stand there and prevent people from entering.

All of these so-called "efficiencies" are really just doing things that other humans could be doing and getting paid for. They are hurting the economy!

[malamute]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

A handful of technicians is not equivalent to the millions or billions of people that it would have taken to perform the same tasks manually.

Manually would mean it a letter would have to be handwritten, but really are there any studies showing that computers drastically reduced the number of personnel or the time required to send out a letter or report?

See before you needed a typewriter and someone to type the letter. Now you need a whole network of people before anything can be done. Network admins, helpdesk support, software installers, trainers, software support, printer technicians and so on.

I think such a study might be interesting - a secretary still has to type out words, even if voice recognition software is used, proofreading and corrections are required. For any kind of report, data entry into the computer is required. If anything computers create many jobs. They really require a lot more support personnel than the typewriter did.

[EuroTrashed]

I wonder if in a world where robots do all the work and humans can leisure all day or work as a hobby, luddites will still complain about technology having taken our jobs