In "The Human Factor" by Kim Vicente, she refers to the the problems that occur when technology is introduced into the work force and put in the hands of uneducated workers. It is shocking to find that in "Technology Matters" by David Nye that many employers are actually looking for inexperienced workers to use the machines because of lower pay wages. " As factory and white-collar jobs exit Wester economies, new low-wage jobs seem to increase. In the ever more rationalized meat-packing industry, a manager boasted "We've tried to take the skill out of every step." That made it easier to hire mostly unskilled immigrants. These unorganized workers earn one-third less than meat packers did in the 1960's, and they recieve no health benefits intil after six months and no vacation until after a year." (130). Although many argue that technology has helped create jobs, and reduce prices for consumers, it has also made many skilled and experienced workers lose their jobs so that someone less qualified can come to do it for cheaper. In "The Human Factor" when technology was placed into the hands of an uneducated and poorly trained worker, the outcome was catastrophic with a nuclear explosion that impacted much of the world. Is cheaper labor really worth the human error? Technology and factories are taking away the art of many productions. "Technology consists of both tools and skills. Cooking is an excellent example. Recipes provide outlines sufficient only for the experienced, and, as the popularity of cooking programs on TV attests, it helps to watch someone else" (110). It is important that we remember that as we advance our technology, we need to still be worried about skill and not just about who can produce the most of a product for the cheapest. There was a time where people enjoyed their jobs in production and saw it as an art. They put love and care into every item which they made. Now assembly lines have taken away the art and simply made it repetitive with every product being made identical to one another. "Although the assembly radically reduced the tim needed to make a car, workers found the repetitive labor mind numbing" (117). There was a time when we saw mass production as good, lower income families were able to finally buy a car and go on family vacations. Now, as our economoy is hitting a low point, we notice the affects of these mass production lines. Too many cars were produced, they sit on lots waiting to bought in a time where a new car is not on the top of the priority list for families. If we had put time and care into the assembly of products, would we be better of economically? Perhaps a huge surplus of a good is not always the best. Assembly lines have also hurt the economoy by taking away jobs. "One General Motors plant in New Jersey adopted elements of lean production in the late 1980's, and the changeover eliminated one-third of the production workers and 42 percent of the foreman and supervisors." (117). It is hard to tell if all these advances have had a positive or negative impact on the economy and lives of the average day person. Would we be in a recession if weavers still wove everything by hand, proffesional muscians still had employment in silent movie theatres, and we still had cars being made one at a time. How far will we go letting technology dictate the way which people perform their jobs? As Nye said, "If there is a limit to these continual processes of work distribrution and retraining, it is not yet in sight" (134). To me, that is a very scary thought.