The Different Perspectives on Technology Vs. Man

In the early 1900s, there were no such things as cell phones, computers, or TVs. No fast forward to present day, you see hybrid cars all over the place, skyscrapers touching the sky, and supercomputers that can process a billion bytes of information a second. And how was this possible? Technology made it possible. Technology created millions of jobs over the course of four decades. Even though we always hear of people complaining about technology taking jobs, it is only because technology merely displaces and creates jobs at the same time. Everyone only concentrates on the shorter results but overall, job totals have risen dramatically over the years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ISM employment index has peaked at a 30 year high recently. But even through this impressive statistic, sometimes there is a bad side to the relationship between technology and employment.

How many of you have had an encounter with an automated telephone system? As you all know, it can be a pain to have to deal with it. You have to listen through all the options, press a number, and then those options only lead to more options. Takes Charles Wheelan who has a PhD in finance and writes for Yahoo Finance.com. He has had this encounter very much like the rest of us. From the situation, he drew conclusions that technology is not so hyped up as it is suppose to be. Machines are devoid of emotion, and only as smart as we make them to be.

Take supercomputers, for example. Humans are behind all those complicated equations and algorithms which make supercomputers so smart. Thus, technology is based upon human thought. Even certain handmade objects are prized more than the machine made version. Take Stradivari violins for example which cost millions of dollars as opposed to a hundred dollar factory made machine. Hand-made violins take weeks to make, and have superior tone and resonance to a cheap violin. Or take even a pair of Earnest Sewn jeans, which cost hundreds of dollars as opposed to a machine made jean. Handmade jeans are significantly softer, have a perfect fit, and no two jeans are alike. And why do people spend hundreds to thousands more on handcrafted items? It's because people value the care and time put into the item which translates into quality. In a world that is growing dependent on machines, people still value handcrafted items in the expanding economy.