In Ten years will there any Customer Service Jobs at all?

a reply to: Hypntick

Have to disagree on Seniors reluctant to use self checkouts due to not understanding. The 'ttude is there because "why on earth should we do your employee's job as well as patronizing your place of business". Or the other one which is "I should bag my groceries to help you pay your overhead".

Followed by "If you can't make your business profitable without customer labor, maybe you shouldn't be running a business!"

It's not that Seniors don't understand the Tech, it that they are unbelievably pissed they're getting screwed and being told it's good for them. I've heard some major league snark on the subject.

a reply to: ElGoobero

And what is this guy driving? More then a few were caught sleeping in there car while driving. A few crashed, the rest? Were fine. Its only just basic LA traffic. Ya they have been working on full automatic cars. And trucks as well, think there planing on building warehouses cross country were the driver less automatic trucks can pull in, and people unload cargo, etc etc.

Really they need to do is build the infrastructure, the driver less cars and trucks? Is the easy part.

Yes

a reply to: JAGStorm

a reply to: ElGoobero

I don't expect to see vehicles without human drivers in my lifetime
too many variables. (and indemnity) ...

Too late! They've already got them, here in Colorado anyway. Full-sized semi's even. I was on the freeway a couple of months back and actually saw one! It was a Budweiser 18 wheeler up by the AB plant near Fort Collins (I-25 heading north towards Wyoming). There was a person in the truck, but he wasn't in the driver's seat. Fully autonomous vehicle. Probably the only reason the guy was inside is because I don't think it's legal (yet) to not have a person inside a vehicle on the highway. This thing had cameras all over it. Must have had 50 cameras on that truck.

I tend to agree though; I don't think it will ever be widespread. All that technology is fine and well...until the weather gets crappy, then all bets are off! Ice and snow on the roads will bring those systems to a standstill. And, it's not the tracking systems which will fail, that problem has a solution. Instead it's the unreliable stopping distances. Even with traction sensors (which they do have) can't predict the traction when it can change in a split second. The computers will realize this and just stop the vehicle, and then you just wind up with a massive traffic jam.

a reply to: Ahabstar

If everything in the US bought and sold was 100% produced domestically,

I wish. but with a free market we can never force business owners to do it that way.
They will always have the choice to put their factory somewhere else. Even if the tax rate was 0 it wouldn't stop this. because some would put factories in other places to be closer to raw materials. Or because of less environment laws. Or because they can pay workers less.

But yes i agree and wish this could be done.

a reply to: scraedtosleep

As kids growing up, we would go around looking for soda bottles to turn in for the dime. Because even at a young age we knew that without money, we couldn’t buy anything. What did we buy? Cheap candy, fishing hooks, bobbers and sinkers, matches or a communal lighter (although usually we found them). Various things that kids buy. But usually we made things by looking it over like slingshots or toy parachutes for Army men.

Point is...If people don’t make money. They don’t spend money. Doesn’t matter where it is made. I can make a pretty darn good loaf of bread. It is easier just to buy it. But if I can’t afford flour, I can always gather grass seeds and grind them down. Wont taste as good as homemade or store bought. I can grind corn into cornmeal as well. And cornbread tastes much better. About two ears worth for a typical small pan for supper by the way.

But if America isn’t buying, who is China gonna produce products for? Their own people are not buying it if they live outside the cities without working the factory jobs in the cities. They don’t have the money to buy it either.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I dont even own fishing equipment. It's fairly simple to make your own line and hooks from plant fibers, thorns and barbs. Plus it's funner than the actual fishing.

We'd make money as kids making carnival games with prizes in the driveway. There's always a scam to get cash. Good times.

Full Complete Automation would problary hurt human society and jobs.

Some very relevant coverage of 'technological unemployment' in this doco.

From 9:50