Trade-offs between inequality, productivity, and employment - "The poor do not employ one another, because the necessities they require are produced and sold so cheaply by the rich. The rich are glad to sell to the poor, as long as the poor can come up with property or debt claims or other forms of insurance to offer as payment..." [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Sep 4, 2012 - 45 comments

Made in America: small businesses buck the offshoring trend - "For US manufacturing to make sense, factories must make extensive use of automation. That's getting easier, given that the cost of robots with comparable capabilities has decreased precipitously in the past two decades." [more inside]
posted by kliuless on May 20, 2011 - 52 comments

In a pinch, upgrade the humans or redistribute the robots - "[S]uppose [as a factory owner] I replace all my workers with machines... This squeeze has many implications, one of them being that here is an important sector of the economy in which more or less all the gains accrue to the owners of capital and more or less none to the working class..." [more inside]
posted by kliuless on May 1, 2011 - 98 comments

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
posted by jason's_planet on Mar 2, 2007 - 22 comments

Two industrial robots spin records.
posted by phrontist on Feb 6, 2007 - 21 comments

Who needs great human masters? Tired of slaving away at art school? Don't have any talent? No worries, just let your robot do the art for you.
posted by elfollador on Jan 3, 2007 - 11 comments

The Soylent Green Biscuit Factory Are automation, robots, and computers taking human jobs and producing a new class of permanently superfluous ex-workers? (see Robot Nation thanks spazzm) Maybe the Soylent Green Biscuit Factory can help! Robert Wenzlaff says - "I'm not just the president. I'm also a raw material."
posted by troutfishing on Nov 17, 2003 - 11 comments