bob%ucla-locus@sri-unix.UUCP (10/19/83)
From: Bob English <bob@ucla-locus> Actually I have very strong feelings about worker displacement, but feel that the programming community as a whole lacks it. I have no illusions that masses of factory workers can be transformed into data-base programmers. My "chuckling attitude" was not at the problem, but at the sudden discomfiture expressed when the jobs threatened were programming jobs, not factory jobs. I'm quite pessimistic about the ability of our political and economic systems to handle the massive dislocations sure to be caused by the rapid advances in AI, robotics, and microprocessors, particluarly in this hair-trigger, mass-media world. While it pains me to have my mail misinterpreted, I'm glad you answered: is HUMAN-NETS available to ARPA sites? Yours in insensitivity, --bob--
ica.dab%ucla-locus@sri-unix.UUCP (10/24/83)
From: Dave the Wizard <ica.dab@ucla-locus> I find nothing at *all* amusing in the concept of technology of any sort pushing masses of people out of work, be they factory workers or *even* programmers, particularly as we head into the lower portion of the "job funnel". Obviously you didn't read Bob's message very carefully. Technology pushing people out of work is not what he found amusing. What he found amusing was the irony in a group of people largely responsible for pushing masses of people out of work, crying that someone else might do that to *them*. I think that the comment recently made on this list implying that "programmers" don't show sympathy for displaced workers was lacking in both substance and tact. I suggest that the subset of programmers who exhibit concern for this problem or even think about it is in the minority, and that for the general case, Bob's observation is correct. Ask the average programmer what he thinks of unions, for example. Unions are the biggest voice against technology displacing workers. It also annoys me when people place inappropriate messages on this mailing list, (following other inappropriate messages, of course), and then attempt to forestall rebuttal in front of the original audience by "moving the discussion to another list". Dave
Bakin.AWEST%mit-multics@sri-unix.UUCP (10/26/83)
I've been racking my brains with no solution: Will somebody please come up with the name of one new software product, of any cost whatsover from $0 to $1000000, that caused a net decrease in programming jobs??? -- Dave Bakin (Bakin@mit-multics)