Friday, March 27, 2009

Progress??

Are we really living in a more advanced world?

A shop in the town where I live, this week, had only one of its five tills working for two days, and then closed for a time - why? - because the computer had a virus and the tills had to be disconnected from the internet.
The same thing happens if there`s a power cut - tills and other devices cease to work and there`s no fall back solution.

So, are we really living in a more advanced world?

Working in a shop in the 1960`s & 1970`s, if the power went off, one just inserted a handle into the side of the till, cranked it round for each item the customer purchased and continued working and serving, keeping the shop open and business flowing.

Surely, with all today`s technology someone, somewhere can invent a back up system so as to not inconvenience us shoppers!

4 comments:

eija said...

Heh, I hear your pain :D But I think we can be thankful as long as it's only inconvenience in a shop - think about the possibility of a bad virus attacking a nuclear plant - or a military weapon system. Or a hospital where patients die because computers don't monitor their respirators or pacemakers or whatever.

That's also what the millennium fuss was all about and it sure was scary...

Every time I start thinking about this I find myself longing for the days of horse-drawn loads of hay...

Ivy said...

Yes, I totally agree,

I was really only using that as an example as to how dependent we seem to have become on computers etc, in all aspects of life.

Z said...

You're absolutely right - and think of how dependent banks etc are on computers. Last year the local electricity transformer went boom rather dramatically and all the power went off - some was restored quickly by hooking on to another transformer and then they brought in emergency portable transformers, but the town centre was off for more than 24 hours and most businesses had to close. Al didn't, as his scales can run on batteries. Not having a till, he used pencil and paper to add up the bills.

Ivy said...

You can`t really beat a pencil and paper for adding up - although most of the young people today wouldn`t have a clue how to do that, would they?! I know some, that if the till doesn`t tell them how much change to give someone they can`t work it out and have to call an older person!