Miles of sophisticated capital devoid of human labour... Automated factories, automated stacking for shipping, automated warehousing...
With automated haulage (possible with the wave of unmanned vehicle technology in recent years) and automated retail on the horizon, we're getting close to the point where you can have a gigantic distribution system churning out products with nary a human involved. Unless you count the owner.
With such awesome capabilities, is it any wonder that profits are skyrocketing for capital, while unemployment remains intractable, and may even be getting worse?
Automated Manufacturing
Automated Palletizing
Automated Warehousing
I loved that first video from Lexar - I'm a photographer and I use those very same memory cards! As great as automated manufacturing is, it still hasn't eliminated the need for human quality control and customer support though. When products break, it sure is nice to take to a real person! That's one human-job I don't see being replaced any time soon.
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