On Wednesday, October 2, 2002 at 06:26:52 (-0500) Bill Lear writes: >... >I've had some experience with this sort of technology, to use a poor >term (it has more to do with organization of work). The problem with >this explanation is that it assumes "remote links" do not degrade the >efficiency of the job. Direct and spontaneous face-to-face human >contact is the very best way to exchange information known to the >universe. Put it through a "video feed" or conference call, and a lot >gets lost. I don't know the details, but when you start placing >workers in remote locations from other pieces of their work, the work >will usually suffer, not to mention (perhaps) the workers (though the >Indians employed to run the database might be better off).
By chance this morning while driving to work listening to NPR, I heard (recalling from memory) a New York City detective say that face-to-face meetings over coffee to discuss the investigation of the murder of Meir Kahane instead of "working through a database", could perhaps have prevented the first World Trade Center bombing. Bill
