On one hand, the assembly line and strict adherance to time-tables / production quota has undeniably led to lower consumer costs (as opposed to if each auto was hand-made). On the other hand, it has led to many dreary and monotonous work environments.
Clock = yet another Killer App; same goes for automobile Scientific Management, cont. Frederick Taylor “ stipulated the precise scheduling and organizing or work activities, and that these procedures were never to be left to the workers’ discretion” (195) Centered around the clock All possible due to standardized time, thanks to railroads necessitating / leading to time zones clock, key invention that influenced modern attitudes about how work is organized / scheduled However, the clock was not the greatest job generator; automobile was.
http://gizmodo.com/5542527/undercover-report-from-foxconns-hell-factory “They work all day long, stopping only to quickly eat or to sleep. They repeat the same routine again and again except on public holidays.” “…they envied workers who are sick. They get leave approvals and can get some rest.” “Another worker spoke about one of the favorite activities in the factory lines: He likes to drop stuff on the floor. Why? Workers spend achingly up to eight hours standing up, so they feel that squatting down to grab a fallen object is the most restful moment of their working day.”
See “mail room” scene from Hudsucker proxy (DVD tracks 5 & 6 The Hudsucker Proxy 1994, Coen bros. Numerous examples of scientific management (exaggerated for effect) Precise scheduling and organizing of work activities: Punch-in times, Employee ID #, File a Faulty claim, etc. Failure to comply: “You get docked” “ The development of technology over time has not always resulted in diminished workloads; in fact the opposite has sometimes been the case” )
Big business = equally big technology systems used for communications Show vacuum tube scene from Hudsucker Proxy Think of all the vacuum tubes used to deliver messages in Hudsucker proxy; think of the endless rows / columns of file cabinets. These were certainly high-tech for their time, but may well have created more work than they purported to save. See Hoola Hoop R&D scene from Hudsucker Proxy (DVD track 24)
Show Ignite video clip on history of pneumatic tubes & Hudsucker clip of pneumatic tubes
Show Ignite video clip on history of pneumatic tubes
Gone with the wind: Tubes are whisking samples across hospital http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/january/tubes-0111.html Images are copyrighted works by Norbert von der Groeben
Gone with the wind: Tubes are whisking samples across hospital http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/january/tubes-0111.html Images are copyrighted works by Norbert von der Groeben
Gone with the wind: Tubes are whisking samples across hospital http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/january/tubes-0111.html Images are copyrighted works by Norbert von der Groeben
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