I cannot count the number of times that developers have gotten outright giddy when an opportunity for self-commodification comes up usually under the guise of self-taylorization.
> I would adore it if the doctors and nurses in my life didn't constantly lament the stream of indignities that their single-neuron administrators heap upon them with each new proprietary system.
It's funny - the medical industry is precisely the counter-example I use when the auto-commodification discussion arises. There's two emotional appeals it makes. Patients hate it when they have to bounce from doctor to doctor. They understand that commodification comes with some degree of increased specialization[1] and that each hand-off represents an additional failure point[2].
The second appeal is simply one of status and being able to fashion one's work style in a more high-status form. I lead with the first, and let the second read as subtext and it usually works. Workers tend to maintain more generalization and rely on each other for consults rather than handoffs.
1. assembly lines are sequenced specializations
2. See handoff errors w.r.t. medical resident work hours
Author here. I have some famous-ish (within medical circles) family members, and it's interesting. On one hand, they have a lot of leeway and status, and at least the hotshots in my family are clearly treated as the medical equivalent of professional athletes, with a real craftperson's mindset.
On the other hand, I was actually talking about the EMR systems, etc, which are repeatedly purchased at exorbitant prices by vendors that churn out nearly useless products, and insist the staff spend ages doing data entry. I have some pretty horrendous stories in this space, which is why it's my go-to example in most of my posts.
> I cannot count the number of times that developers have gotten outright giddy when an opportunity for self-commodification comes up usually under the guise of self-taylorization.
I dunno. I'm a sysadmin, and my job is arguably to replace myself with a small shell script. Somehow I've been at this twenty-odd years and there's still more work than people.
I cannot count the number of times that developers have gotten outright giddy when an opportunity for self-commodification comes up usually under the guise of self-taylorization.
> I would adore it if the doctors and nurses in my life didn't constantly lament the stream of indignities that their single-neuron administrators heap upon them with each new proprietary system.
It's funny - the medical industry is precisely the counter-example I use when the auto-commodification discussion arises. There's two emotional appeals it makes. Patients hate it when they have to bounce from doctor to doctor. They understand that commodification comes with some degree of increased specialization[1] and that each hand-off represents an additional failure point[2].
The second appeal is simply one of status and being able to fashion one's work style in a more high-status form. I lead with the first, and let the second read as subtext and it usually works. Workers tend to maintain more generalization and rely on each other for consults rather than handoffs.
1. assembly lines are sequenced specializations
2. See handoff errors w.r.t. medical resident work hours