The Daily Ping

FROM: Chris [E-Mail]
DATE: Wednesday July 21, 2004 -- 9:29:11 am

If you get your food in a timely manner, why does it matter? And really, can the folks in India really have any worse Engllish skills than some of the teenagers that work fast food in NOVA?

FROM: Dave Walls [E-Mail]
DATE: Wednesday July 21, 2004 -- 1:42:51 pm

Good point, Chris. And for all intensive purposes, Burger King outsourced all their jobs about 5 years ago.

FROM: The Corrector
DATE: Wednesday July 21, 2004 -- 4:51:59 pm

Isn't the correct phrase "for all intents and purposes"?

FROM: Paul
DATE: Wednesday July 21, 2004 -- 5:16:12 pm

It is "for all intents and purposes." I used to make the very same mistake... and then Ryan set me straight one day.

FROM: Dave Walls [E-Mail]
DATE: Wednesday July 21, 2004 -- 6:09:19 pm

I stand corrected by the Corrector. Now, off to go correct the person who taught me that phrase! ;p

FROM: Ryan [E-Mail]
DATE: Thursday July 22, 2004 -- 3:29:42 am

And I only corrected Paul because I used to make that mistake and was corrected by someone else.

It's like pay it forward or something...

FROM: Joseph
DATE: Friday July 23, 2004 -- 2:43:49 pm

This is only a test bed. Sooner or later, the entire process can become entirely automated. The person on the other end, in India, will merely push a few buttons and the food will come to the window straight from the conveyor, untouched by human hands. There will be no onsite employees, only deliveries by guys who refill the food merchandise into machines for "processing." The counter that you used to walk up to will be closed forever to save upkeep costs. There will be no need to have an attendant in a bathroom without any dining room customers.

Of course, for the Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell restaurants, it's not like they will save any money on cleaning the place up inside, anyway--the slobs.

FROM: towinlovinit
DATE: Sunday July 25, 2004 -- 1:02:41 pm

After dwelling on this for sometime, the thought occured to me. UMMMMM...............
If everything goes automatic, no need to hire anyone, then who will have the money to buy if no one has a job?
If no one has a job, then there is no money to spend. UMMMMM>.......... If there is no money to spend...... how will we buy?..............UMMMMMMM................
If there is no money, no jobs, no people with money to spend, how will businesses run on no funding?........UMMMMMM>>>>>>>>>>
Has anyone else ever thought of this? ...................UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM................................................ This is keeping me up all night.
Someone has to have the answer to this somewhere...............................

FROM: Joseph
DATE: Monday July 26, 2004 -- 1:16:06 pm

Answer:

There will always be jobs, just different people get them. America was once an industrial powerhouse. Now it's service oriented and idustrial goods are produced overseas. We keep enough manufacturing capability to protect us in case of war. We don't want to make the mistake the South did in the Civil War and get into war without the means to produce arms. Other than that, we specialize in the US. That's why even a college degree isn't enough anymore--unless it's a technical degree. But even the computer field, yesterday's hotbed of high paying luxury living, has been outsourced.

Interestingly, there are always turnarounds. My mother was nurse, and I've seen her profession be pecked away to the point where no one wanted to be a nurse anymore because the jobs simply paid too little for all the schooling. After a few years of empty nursing schools, the wages of nurses has tripled in order to attract people into nursing schools. And guess what? They are importing nurses now--but at least they are getting paid well.
In other areas workers are imported--ever see a photo of the cafeteria at Microsoft? I hope they're getting imported at a nice wage, but I don't know. Gates makes bazillions somehow.
If you can find a lost art and specialize in that, you can also make great money. I knew a guy in New Orleans who decided to become, believe it or not, a blacksmith. He travelled a bit to learn the trade, and later, he even went to Europe. No one has this skill anymore, and he charges whatever he wants to for his work. After three years in business, he's got brand new trucks, a huge house, a nice family, plenty of income, time off, and loves his work.
For the drive in order takers now out of work, go find a job at the ever growing Subway chain. There are no drive ins, and the subs are still made by hand. Jobs disappear in one place and open up somewhere else.

Don't lose any more sleep over it.

FROM: ken
DATE: Saturday December 18, 2004 -- 11:40:06 am

Yea, dont they need people to set up all of that? Mcdonalds already has automated soda/pop/coke/watever machines. its pretty cool, but i dont think machines will be able to make burgers like w/o pickles, very confusing. Well it is possible, voice recognition is already used for phone help at companys. i should try it. and that what do you call your carbonated beverage thing would be a great ping idea