James Liddell

Georgia

Retired carreer journalist and military officer

Well, duh! Of course, technology eliminates jobs. That's why people are constantly obtaining the latest technology. But in this case, "elimination" actually means "job change".

I got a computer for a USAF Reserve public affairs office in 1986. Prior to the computer, I could man the office by myself. Production was very low but sustainable. The computer forced me into adding a full-time secretary and an assistant because of the production that I now could generate--in fact, was forced to generate--because all my peers were pushing new projects out the door just as fast as I was. We literally drove each other to work harder and faster because of the new technology.

Job change? Yeah! The fulltime secretary had been an unemployed filing clerk and the assistant had been a non-working high school student. I continued as a public affairs officer but in a way more administrative and less production-oriented.

The point here is that new technology created jobs, but in new places and involving new skills.

I think the writer is both tilting at windmills and arguing at too basic a level in the scheme of things. He need to ratchet up a few levels in his thinking so as to see the larger picture.