Airport Ipads a new way to alienate labor.

[Dondilion]

The linked article suggests that the airport Ipads are a new way to alienate
workers but there are broader implications...an indication of a significant cultural shift coming - the disappearance of human workers in the service sector.

Unions are valiantly trying to bargain substantively for the present workers,
but pretty soon there will not be workers in any meaningful numbers. Technological innovation is gathering moment.

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinion...ate-labor.html

[barbara]

Generally, I'm all for technology. But, I've had a couple experiences with these iPads in restaurants and found it very dis satisfying.

Maybe I'm old fashion, but part of what I like about eating out (and what I feel I am paying for) is to be a bit pampered. It's the night I don't have to shop, prepare and serve dinner at home and the interaction with the waitress/waiter is an important part of the experience for me.

[BlueStreak]

We have I-pads loaded up with a maintenance program at work, intended to assign us tasks according to line availability based on the production schedule a week in advance. The point of this is supposed to be to reduce the number of maintenance supervisors needed to run the shop.

The problem is;

The production schedule changes daily, oftentimes it changes once or twice during any given shift. So, I could be assigned maintenance on a line that ends up running all week, or at least some of it and very little or nothing gets done. Then, on Friday it loads up next weeks workload on top of what is left over from the previous week......Wash, rinse, repeat. My bonus is largely dependent on the percentage of tasks I manage to complete. Which, of course, I have little to no control over.

Once a month, our Maintenance manager tells us all about how we "...need to tighten up." and reminds us of how much we are paid and the fact that it's getting "...harder by the day to find a job like this.".

Yes, we are building a wonderful world. We need more of such "advances". It will be great. You'll see. Just be patient and remember; When the ax falls, you did it to yourself.

With the warmest of regards;
Dave

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by barbara

Generally, I'm all for technology. But, I've had a couple experiences with these iPads in restaurants and found it very dis satisfying.

Maybe I'm old fashion, but part of what I like about eating out (and what I feel I am paying for) is to be a bit pampered. It's the night I don't have to shop, prepare and serve dinner at home and the interaction with the waitress/waiter is an important part of the experience for me.

Amen to that.

[Oerets]

Guess the old saying needs updating. To fly!


“How Will You Get Robots to Pay Union Dues?” “How Will You Get Robots to Buy Cars?”

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11...bots-buy-cars/




Barney

[donquixote99]

OK, I-pads replace order takers. Do you go and pick your own food up at the ready line? And make your own salad? Oh yeah, salad bar, doh.

What about bussing the tables? I'm definitely not doing that.

[Boreas]

We have to start planning for a world where virtually all labor is performed by machines. Simply put, no matter what we train people to do, there simply won't be enough work to go around and, as technology accelerates along with population growth, the problem will only get worse.

[finnbow]

I think the bigger news in the article is that the Newark airport now has a CBGB restaurant. Is nothing sacred?

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2015/12/...rt-restaurant/

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Boreas

We have to start planning for a world where virtually all labor is performed by machines. Simply put, no matter what we train people to do, there simply won't be enough work to go around and, as technology accelerates along with population growth, the problem will only get worse.

My employer recently installed a "single serve" (K-Cup) line that the builder claimed was "maintenance free".

We spent five hours working on it one night last week it because an auger warped and jammed in the fill head. Of course we had no parts in house because the lack of a parts inventory is one of the great benefits of a "maintenance free" machine.

Despite what anybody might tell you, Fellas, some of these "advancements" aren't all they're cracked up to be.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

My employer recently installed a "single serve" (K-Cup) line that the builder claimed was "maintenance free".

We spent five hours working on it one night last week it because an auger warped and jammed in the fill head. Of course we had no parts in house because the lack of a parts inventory is one of the great benefits of a "maintenance free" machine.

Despite what anybody might tell you, Fellas, some of these "advancements" aren't all they're cracked up to be.

K-Cup itself is a case in point.