14 ms·

I agree it would be very difficult to get robots to do either plumbing or electrics in a home environment as it is. However another option is that the job becom

I agree it would be very difficult to get robots to do either plumbing or electrics in a home environment as it is. However another option is that the job becomes simplified and dumbed down so home owners can do it themselves or with low skilled labour. For example I would never consider replacing a gas boiler myself as it stands, but what if it was just a slot in unit of standardised size with simple idiot proof connectors no one could get wrong? What if it's an electrical heat pump with no explosive gases or carbon monoxide safety to worry about? Even if the home owner doesn't want to replace it, it might get simple enough that a lightly trained delivery truck driver could do it. For example the delivery guy installed my washing machine, not a plumber.

eru 4y ago
Riffing on your example: even just the though of making all appliances cheap enough to be replaced when they break down, instead of repairing them, was and is a big step in this direction.
semi-extrinsic 4y ago
Sadly (IMHO) the world is generally going in the opposite direction. At least in Northern Europe there is more and more standardization of "this should be done exactly in Y dimension using material Z with connector X", and if you can't document compliance with that standard, your house is worth slightly less when you try to sell it.
maccard 4y ago
The problem with this isn't the new, it's the old. I live in a house that's almost 150 years old and _nothing_ is standard. I tried to hang a mirror on a wall yesterday, and turns out the wall isn't plumb - what should have been a 30 minute job turned into half a day of fixing up and making good 4 holes in the wall and shaving back the plaster to mount the bracket flush.
dogleash 4y ago
>However another option is that the job becomes simplified and dumbed down so home owners can do it themselves or with low skilled labour. I come from a DIY family, I don't think skill is the primary barrier. The "why would you do that when you can just pay someone to do it?" attitude is pervasive. That's not a dismissive characterization either, that's paraphrasing as best I can what a friend said when another friend and I were on the couch watching a youtube maker video. And it's an attitude I've heard again and again over the years.

eru 4y ago

Riffing on your example: even just the though of making all appliances cheap enough to be replaced when they break down, instead of repairing them, was and is a big step in this direction.

semi-extrinsic 4y ago

Sadly (IMHO) the world is generally going in the opposite direction. At least in Northern Europe there is more and more standardization of "this should be done exactly in Y dimension using material Z with connector X", and if you can't document compliance with that standard, your house is worth slightly less when you try to sell it.

maccard 4y ago

The problem with this isn't the new, it's the old. I live in a house that's almost 150 years old and _nothing_ is standard. I tried to hang a mirror on a wall yesterday, and turns out the wall isn't plumb - what should have been a 30 minute job turned into half a day of fixing up and making good 4 holes in the wall and shaving back the plaster to mount the bracket flush.

dogleash 4y ago

>However another option is that the job becomes simplified and dumbed down so home owners can do it themselves or with low skilled labour. I come from a DIY family, I don't think skill is the primary barrier. The "why would you do that when you can just pay someone to do it?" attitude is pervasive. That's not a dismissive characterization either, that's paraphrasing as best I can what a friend said when another friend and I were on the couch watching a youtube maker video. And it's an attitude I've heard again and again over the years.