Show threadbs2Oct 27, 2023
For the the dehumanizing power loom
(the advantage was not "reduced cost of production" but "more immediate control and management and prevention of embezzlement")
J.H. Sadler proposed and alternative, a "pendulum hand-loom on behalf of the weavers. It was designed to preserve the skills and jobs of the weavers and enable them to avoid the degrading conditions of factory life." p.6 of #ProgressWithoutPeople by #DavidNoble with #MaxineBerg make me see Scheme programming over #OfficeSoftware
bs2Oct 27, 2023
> ... the weavers raised "a powerful and impressive critique of machinery, a critique that carried a genuine belief that technical change was not a 'given' but could be tempered and directed to match social ideals." They... consistently... demanded a social policy on technology. (They proposed, for example, a tax on power looms and a host of other legislative measures to protect the lives of weavers.)
#MaxineBerg on p.6 of #ProgressWithoutPeople by #DavidNoble on #TheMachine #Technology