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For all the — well, ''chat'' — [[chatbot]]s haven’t yet managed to supplant those cretinous lumps who are needed push whatever buttons must be pushed to propel the great steampunk corporation forward. | For all the — well, ''chat'' — [[chatbot]]s haven’t yet managed to supplant those cretinous lumps who are needed push whatever buttons must be pushed to propel the great steampunk corporation forward. | ||
But | But when these oafs became capable, overnight, of glibly infecting each other with fatal illness, and the corporate world was obliged to locate a safe remove at which they could operate their buttons without accidentally murdering each other, it dawned on the management that, since all buttons were now digital, this new-fangled internet thing meant these oafish [[Meatware|meatsacks]] could push their buttons to their hearts’ content — well, to their overlords’ hearts’ content, at any rate — ''from their own homes''. | ||
This was regarded at first as a regrettable evil, but | This was regarded at first as a regrettable evil, but when the new arrangement turned out to work very well, over a prolonged period, it acquired the waft of opportunity for cost saving. This in turn prompted diametrically opposite instincts in the management layer — frequently within the same individuals. | ||
For on one hand, outsourcing the very space one’s employees occupy to those very same employees, | For on one hand, outsourcing the very space one’s employees occupy to those very same employees, and thereby getting it free of charge, represented an enormous windfall opportunity. | ||
On the other hand, it | On the other hand, the capitalist’s natural suspicion that all labour is indolent runs deep: it was harder to ''monitor'' these employees in their own homes. And as for these digital buttons they had been doggedly pushing all this time: who’s idea was that? Were they even necessary? | ||
=== The good old days === | === The good old days === |