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[–] SteelKidney 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

a large number of jobs were replaced by a small number of different jobs?

But those replaced by automation didn't just give up and die. New industries emerged with a need for workers. Some jobs were eliminated others became available due to new processes and technology.

I gave a more detail in this comment, but the gist is that if you just look at an isolated industry, then yes. Jobs are lost. But if you look at the economy and job force as a whole, then advances in technology result in jobs in industries that didn't exist previously. To wit, my job didn't exist in my parents' generation and was barely in existence when I was in college. Now it's a lucrative industry with raped growth. And will probably be obsolete in 30 years. Or not. Who knows?

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[–] TheBrokenWorld ago  (edited ago)

But those replaced by automation didn't just give up and die. New industries emerged with a need for workers. Some jobs were eliminated others became available due to new processes and technology.

That's not going to work forever (we're seeing it fail right now), and it's certainly not going to work now that oligopolies are able to crush any new competition before it gains any steam.

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[–] SteelKidney ago 

oligopolies are able to crush any new competition before it gains any steam.

These aren't new issues either. IBM tried to stifle new competition for PC manufacturing by trying to keep anyone else from creating a BIOS. And now, IBM doesn't even make PCs. They haven't for years. The marketing term "IBM Compatible" makes no sense because they got so thoroughly smoked by the competitive market. Microsoft tried their hardest to keep only their OS on manufactured computers and we see how well that went. And now, carriers are losing their grip on the smartphone market. It's becoming easier to buy unlocked smartphones and OEMs aren't bound nearly as strongly by carrier rules than they used to be. Little remembered factoid. Up until Apple pressured AT&T into caving, smartphones weren't allowed to have a full browser because the carriers didn't want it. Go back in time a bit and the first data-enabled PDAs that could do more than a POP pull for email were charged far more heavily by carriers.

I'm concentrating on tech industries because that's what I'm most familiar with, but it's also there for alcohol. Due to more readily available equipment, microbrews are taking off. Macrobrews like Anheuser Busch put a lot of money into making sure that the definition of "microbrew" limits production size. Despite that, the production limit to be considered a "microbrew" keeps rising.

I'm not saying that large companies never eliminate competition. you only have to look at Comcast and Time Warner to see that it still happens. But look at Wal-Mart and Amazon. Both of which are, paradoxically, called "monopolies". Despite the fact that they compete in many areas of retail. However, there's a new market that has been created as a direct result of those companies. The push for things like "Whole Foods" and to smaller, more specialized, retailers is because of the mistrust in very large retailers.

Competition isn't perfect, but no system is. However, it works because when large companies try to control the market, new markets emerge. Apple exists because of Microsoft. Android exists because of the iPhone. OnePlus and BlackPhone exist because of Android- despite Google's attempts to control Android. And because of all that, Microsoft and BlackBerry are stepping up their game. Will they be successful? Depends on how well they identify new ways of competing. Microsoft competes by pitching the "all in one" platform. BlackBerry competes in device and data security. Consumers will decide if these are important aspects of the market.

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[–] Chrome-Titan ago 

Automation doesn't have to eliminate jobs. It can also increase efficiency or reduce the risk of making costly mistakes. I think it matters based on the gap of technology. A normal drill press can be replaced by an automated drill press with the operator now free to focus on inspection and proper equipment maintenance. Essentially focusing on a different aspect of the same job. Of course if your replacing a team of people who have a single corded hand drill with an automated press that entire team is going to suffer because the gap is so large.

This will definitely happen in things like taxi drivers. Of course those same drivers may become tour guides, using their vast knowledge of a city to tell people where to go and where not to go. The one's that are only good at following a GPS and driving a car will suffer though.

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[–] TheBrokenWorld ago 

Automation doesn't have to eliminate jobs.

It has to or it wouldn't be profitable.

It can also increase efficiency or reduce the risk of making costly mistakes.

In other words: It can do the work of a larger group of people without having to hire more people.

A normal drill press can be replaced by an automated drill press with the operator now free to focus on inspection and proper equipment maintenance.

Except that drill press would have had to have replaced multiple drill press operators in order to make financial sense. It also probably eliminated the need for a separate person to perform the inspection of the part.

Of course those same drivers may become tour guides, using their vast knowledge of a city to tell people where to go and where not to go.

Only if there are still people that can afford their services.