News

Self-service generating backlash, says author

April 25, 2005

Chicago Tribune: From the gas that people pump themselves to such brave new frontiers of do-it-yourself-land as the self-serve checkout kiosks at Wal-Mart and The Home Depot stores, American consumers are shouldering an ever-growing chunk of the work involved in everyday transactions.

The explosion in self-service options is generating a backlash. Communications experts say people are more isolated than they used to be in the days of face-to-face service, and other observers question how much time people are really saving if they must constantly adjust to new machines, absorb new instructions and deal with the inevitable snags.

"We're exhausted doing all this work," said Nicols Fox, a writer at work on a book called "The Case Against Efficiency." "There's just so much that we have been asked to take over. I think we are reaching a breaking point here."

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