The Design of Future Things - Ch 5

Summary

Automation often satisfactorily performs its tasks but adds an increased need for maintenance. For example, with an automatic coffee maker, we trade a little bit of work at an inconvenient time, with the same or more work at a convenient time. Everything in our society is becoming more and more automated. However, if a system is automated it is not necessarily intelligent, but what the book calls adaptive, because it can continually adapt its behavior to the environment. In any case, automation can be annoying, and even dangerous when intrusive. The chapter gives a couple of examples of non-intrusive systems that fit smoothly into people’s life styles. Finally, the chapter discusses autonomous design versus augmentative design. Autonomous devices can be useful when jobs are dull, dangerous, or dirty. However, people have any unique capabilities that cannot be replicated in machines, and for this reason augmentative technology has proven to make more sense in most cases. 

Discussion

It was easy to relate to this specific chapter, as it is a more realistic one. In general, I really like the book, but sometimes the ideas are too futuristic and not very concrete. This chapter, however, talks about the difficulties of automation nowadays and how we should design devices not to overwrite what we do and add stress, but to complement our skills and make our lives easier. I believe that is the real challenge; cooperation needs to exist between machines and humans. I don’t really want a machine to make decisions for me; but I would like one that would somehow help me make those decisions.