This is going to be a completely random post, but it is too tempting to not write it down now. My belief that the key benefit of software is automation has only strengthened. That is where it is similar to other machines. But I got lost on my own track while discussing this with a friend. Automation is a way of automatic execution of tasks. This automatic execution improves accuracy and productivity across the repetitions. And it ends up increasing efficiency of the human using it.
However, this whole conversation led towards the direction that these benefits of automation are achieved by reducing manual intervention and hence dependency on it. This in turn, a lot of times, leads to reducing manual interaction for any task. Consider the ATM, the vending machines or online banking. These are ways of doing your tasks without having to interact with and wait for a human. I remember, just before we left US, the KMart store near us had started automated checkouts. That is, I could scan the products for barcodes myself, the bill was automatically created and I could pay using my credit card. It was not terribly difficult since I was a lot of that already at self-serving gas stations (petrol pumps). During one of such checkouts I realized that I did miss talking to the cashier. Automation did provide its benefits, but there was a cost – a personal cost. Quite a negative view, especially since the social aspect of our life is getting more and more important in our lives. This was more in line with my mother’s view that the computer killed the real world healthy and social activities.
At the same time though, we are using automation to improve our social life. That is where Web 2.0 shouts are all about. Most of the new products, especially software products, revolve around making communication easier. That is what IMing, Twittering, SMSing, Skypeing and blogging is all about. By experience, I have been able to know people, who would simply be out of reach without such tools. And I could not leave this optimistic view behind.
I was confused. And then I started wandering around when topics such as Second Life came up. What are we trying to achieve there through automation? Are we trying to improve our Second Life at the cost of first life? And I was completely lost just by thinking about both the lives crossing each other.
As a software engineer it gets clear sometimes when I look at the consumer user and the corporate user. It is also clear when I think from the perspective of use of software or standards or regulations or business. In short, from a technology perspective it is clear. However, from the human perspective, it is not. Why are we trying to, at the same time, use automation that discourages as well as enables human interaction? Is this a temporary fad or a way of life?
One benefit I could come up of the current scenario was the it gave us a choice of whom to connect with. But I am not so convinced about it myself. As I said earlier, I am lost. There sure are technical improvements, but whether automation is an improvement or an intervention in our life is still a question.
