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One reply seems quite prescient for its time, clashing against the attitude of the original author. We should support alternatives both to coal- generated
by siraben 4y ago
One reply seems quite prescient for its time, clashing against the attitude of the original author.
We should support alternatives both to coal-
generated electricity and to IBM-style technocracy.
But I am reluctant to entertain alternatives that
presuppose the traditional subservience of one class
to another. Let the PCs come and the wives and
servants go seek more meaningful work.
-- Toby Koosman, Knoxville, TN
- leetrout 4y agoI looked her up. She worked with the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis recently. I wonder what she was doing back then... :D
- cataphract 4y agoThat's an uncharitable reading of the essay. So if we help our spouses that makes us subservient to them? Sure, relying on the wife is not an option, or not a desirable option, for most writers. But the article is named "Why I am not going to buy a computer". His wife helps him and reducing his dependence on "strip-mined coal" eases his conscience. Good for him, though I don't think that the article has a lot of relevance for the rest of the world.
- pessimizer 4y ago> So if we help our spouses that makes us subservient to them? I don't know the distinction you're making here. Help and service are the same thing. The point is that it's easy and not notable to eschew computers if you have servants. There's no closer analog to "Let them eat cake!"
- JasonFruit 4y agoI can serve someone while being neither a servant nor subservient.
- zozbot234 4y ago> We should support alternatives both to coal- generated electricity and to IBM-style technocracy. So he's saying that workers in the coal industry should just learn to code? That's certainly a prescient attitude.