3 ms·
> one of many missed “Jetsons opportunities.” This isn't a missed opportunity, it's just an opportunity. Large-scale remote work wasn't feasible prior to the a
by kibwen 3y ago
> one of many missed “Jetsons opportunities.”
This isn't a missed opportunity, it's just an opportunity. Large-scale remote work wasn't feasible prior to the advent of the web and the personal home computer in the 90s, and realistically wouldn't have happened prior to the mass penetration of the internet and the computerization of everything circa 2005/2010. It just so happened that the covid pandemic occurred at approximately the exact moment in human history where mass remote work was even an option (and obviously is still limited to people in knowledge sectors).
- dublinben 3y agoFor most of recorded history, people also worked from wherever they lived, largely in agriculture. The protoindustrialization that emerged in the 16th century saw rural residents performing many new industrial tasks beyond subsistence farming. During slow parts of the season they earned extra money by spinning wool or weaving and washing cloth. The urbanization driven by the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century didn’t tip the balance to a majority of the US population living in cities until 1920. Other countries were even further behind. Work From Not Home is the actual historical anomaly here. Information technology allowing people to perform their 21st Century, postindustrial knowledge work at home is just reversion to the mean.