Quote from: taxed on February 15, 2014, 09:40:34 PM
I dunno... it just seems so simple....

Yeah, you're right it is. Have you ever worked an assembly line job? The closest I've come to one is sorting vegetables on a conveyor belt and working a cash register at a big box grocery store. Both jobs my mind just sort of shut off and wandered elsewhere to cope with the absolute mind numbing boredom of doing the same repetitive physical task over and over again.

I think most cashiers (in big box stores at least) probably find themselves in this state of mind as well. I'm not saying it's ok, I'm just pointing out this is probably what's going on and why they get tripped up when they have to do some calculations manually. It's like waking someone up from a dream and telling them to solve a math problem RIGHT NOW with a bunch of irate customers contemptuously staring them down.

In another context, if they were forced to calculate each transaction manually without reliance on a machine to begin with most would probably be able to make change without a problem because they need to be more mentally aware while performing their task from the get go, so they're not going to be tranced out to begin with. They're going to be in a focused state of mind.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 02:09:12 PM
Yeah, you're right it is. Have you ever worked an assembly line job? The closest I've come to one is sorting vegetables on a conveyor belt and working a cash register at a big box grocery store. Both jobs my mind just sort of shut off and wandered elsewhere to cope with the absolute mind numbing boredom of doing the same repetitive physical task over and over again.

I think most cashiers (in big box stores at least) probably find themselves in this state of mind as well. I'm not saying it's ok, I'm just pointing out this is probably what's going on and why they get tripped up when they have to do some calculations manually. It's like waking someone up from a dream and telling them to solve a math problem RIGHT NOW with a bunch of irate customers contemptuously staring them down.

In another context, if they were forced to calculate each transaction manually without reliance on a machine to begin with most would probably be able to make change without a problem because they need to be more mentally aware while performing their task from the get go, so they're not going to be tranced out to begin with. They're going to be in a focused state of mind.

On the flipside, maybe the cashiers are a lot dumber then they used to be. Like with assembly lines, maybe machines have lowered the bar significantly to let less intelligent people do something that previously required at least a modicum of intelligence.

I've done this at previous jobs. We developed solutions to allow even the dumbest of people to perform complex tasks. The machine did the thinking for them. The benefits? Less skilled, lower paid employees, higher throughput = more money saved.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 02:18:38 PM
On the flipside, maybe the cashiers are a lot dumber then they used to be. Like with assembly lines, maybe machines have lowered the bar significantly to let less intelligent people do something that previously required at least a modicum of intelligence.

I've done this at previous jobs. We developed solutions to allow even the dumbest of people to perform complex tasks. The machine did the thinking for them. The benefits? Less skilled, lower paid employees, higher throughput = more money saved.

Oh yes let's blame the machines.   Not the teachers, schools or colleges that put out these underachievers.by the bus loads. This BS has been going on for 65 years that I can remember.   I even remember back in my younger days the machines were going to take all the jobs.  Son the way you think, you would not even make a good ditch digger.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 02:18:38 PM
On the flipside, maybe the cashiers are a lot dumber then they used to be. Like with assembly lines, maybe machines have lowered the bar significantly to let less intelligent people do something that previously required at least a modicum of intelligence.

I've done this at previous jobs. We developed solutions to allow even the dumbest of people to perform complex tasks. The machine did the thinking for them. The benefits? Less skilled, lower paid employees, higher throughput = more money saved.

Need I say more?
The register isn't all that different, all pictures...

Quote from: walkstall on February 16, 2014, 02:38:02 PM
Oh yes let's blame the machines.   Not the teachers, schools or colleges that put out these underachievers.by the bus loads. This BS has been going on for 65 years that I can remember.   I even remember back in my younger days the machines were going to take all the jobs.  Son the way you think, you would not even make a good ditch digger.

In todays high tech world, you can use technology to come up with creative solutions to save time and money and keep a competitive edge. Lucky for me the last company I worked for figured this out and because of that is flourishing while others probably went bust.

At that company, we had to provision devices before sending them out to customers. They weren't simple devices like the TV remotes. To provision the devices individually you'd need someone trained in that field that knew what they were doing. It was a somewhat time consuming process.

Instead of hiring 20 high paid techs to provision each device, why not write some software to do the technical aspects of the job instead? Then all you'll need to do is hire 5 low-paid unskilled workers to push some buttons and plug in some cables to do the job previously done by 20 high paid tech workers. Not only does the entire process go a lot quicker, the company saves a lot of money.

All I'm saying is in making operations simpler you're lowering the bar for a job that previously required some skill. You're inevitably going to have less intelligent unskilled workers fill those positions while those who are more intelligent look elsewhere. Maybe this isn't the case with cashiers. Maybe people are just getting dumber. I don't know. But surely in some industries unskilled labor is taking the place of jobs that previously required skill due to technological innovation.

I've never worked as a ditch digger. I probably couldn't dig ditches as good as a machine though so you're probably right.

Quote from: Solar on February 16, 2014, 02:38:13 PM
Need I say more?
The register isn't all that different, all pictures...

Exactly this. That UI is terrible though. :)

Quote from: Solar on February 16, 2014, 02:38:13 PM
Need I say more?
The register isn't all that different, all pictures...

Looks like micky D's just one step away from replacing cashiers with self service ordering!! 10 bucks an hr anyone?

Quote from: redbeard on February 16, 2014, 03:36:30 PM
Looks like micky D's just one step away from replacing cashiers with self service ordering!! 10 bucks an hr anyone?

BINGO!!! Talk about elimination of entry level jobs. Hell, if a computer is cheaper than an employee with Commiecare attached, I'd pay for the computer.
Nothing worse than entry level employees, the good ones always move on, and you can never seem to get rid of the lazy ones.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 02:09:12 PM
Yeah, you're right it is. Have you ever worked an assembly line job? The closest I've come to one is sorting vegetables on a conveyor belt and working a cash register at a big box grocery store. Both jobs my mind just sort of shut off and wandered elsewhere to cope with the absolute mind numbing boredom of doing the same repetitive physical task over and over again.

In my teens I worked a cashier. It was indeed pretty repetitive...

Quote
I think most cashiers (in big box stores at least) probably find themselves in this state of mind as well. I'm not saying it's ok, I'm just pointing out this is probably what's going on and why they get tripped up when they have to do some calculations manually. It's like waking someone up from a dream and telling them to solve a math problem RIGHT NOW with a bunch of irate customers contemptuously staring them down.

In another context, if they were forced to calculate each transaction manually without reliance on a machine to begin with most would probably be able to make change without a problem because they need to be more mentally aware while performing their task from the get go, so they're not going to be tranced out to begin with. They're going to be in a focused state of mind.

Ha, I guess... it just seems surreal to me that people can't do basic, simple math in their heads.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 02:18:38 PM
On the flipside, maybe the cashiers are a lot dumber then they used to be. Like with assembly lines, maybe machines have lowered the bar significantly to let less intelligent people do something that previously required at least a modicum of intelligence.

I've done this at previous jobs. We developed solutions to allow even the dumbest of people to perform complex tasks. The machine did the thinking for them. The benefits? Less skilled, lower paid employees, higher throughput = more money saved.

Absolutely...

Quote from: taxed on February 16, 2014, 05:47:36 PM
Absolutely...

I think JRP needs to answer a few posts on this thread.
Also the forum deserves an apology for what he said and did.

Quote from: Solar on February 16, 2014, 05:51:39 PM
I think JRP needs to answer a few posts on this thread.
Also the forum deserves an apology for what he said and did.

JTA and JRP are two different people.   

Quote from: walkstall on February 16, 2014, 06:39:44 PM
JTA and JRP are two different people.

I know, I was reminding Taxed of our conversation.
He was ready to boot JRP, but I wanted to give him a chance to explain himself and to apologize for trashing the members and the forum, as well as the TEA.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 03:21:03 PM
In todays high tech world, you can use technology to come up with creative solutions to save time and money and keep a competitive edge. Lucky for me the last company I worked for figured this out and because of that is flourishing while others probably went bust.

At that company, we had to provision devices before sending them out to customers. They weren't simple devices like the TV remotes. To provision the devices individually you'd need someone trained in that field that knew what they were doing. It was a somewhat time consuming process.

Instead of hiring 20 high paid techs to provision each device, why not write some software to do the technical aspects of the job instead? Then all you'll need to do is hire 5 low-paid unskilled workers to push some buttons and plug in some cables to do the job previously done by 20 high paid tech workers. Not only does the entire process go a lot quicker, the company saves a lot of money.

All I'm saying is in making operations simpler you're lowering the bar for a job that previously required some skill. You're inevitably going to have less intelligent unskilled workers fill those positions while those who are more intelligent look elsewhere. Maybe this isn't the case with cashiers. Maybe people are just getting dumber. I don't know. But surely in some industries unskilled labor is taking the place of jobs that previously required skill due to technological innovation.

I've never worked as a ditch digger. I probably couldn't dig ditches as good as a machine though so you're probably right.

Absolutely, and technology has been good to those of us who can bring savings to fruition, improve processes, and reduce labor overhead.

Quote from: JTA on February 16, 2014, 03:21:35 PM
Exactly this. That UI is terrible though. :)

Hahaha...  looks like it's from the 90s!