The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and early 19th centuries, with its increasing use of machine-based manufacturing, and the invention of the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation has profoundly changed the course of history, and our daily lives. More and more, every day, work that could be done by human beings is being done by machines, and more and more automated processes are being created and refined, down to the tiniest detail.
I know that almost all of us living in the 21st century are really clued up on technology and computers and machinery and automation systems.
Most of us have for countless years been using petrol pumps, personal computers, automatic tellers, coffee machines, and those annoying junk-food dispensers which so often swallow your coins without spitting out the sweets, chocolates, cooldrinks and chips you’ve just paid for.
To little children, these machines often seem like magic. You push a button, and something happens. It’s an endless amount of fun (until mommy or granny hauls you away of course….)
Now imagine if there was a real live bank employee actually beavering away in one of those big automatic teller machines? Or someone counting and sorting the coins? Or a lady actually making the coffee and adding milk and sugar as per your specifications? Or a poor young girl slaving away inside your washing machine, trying to get the stains out of your clothes?
Well, this is what it might look like:
An automatic teller machine
A coin dispenser
A coffee maker
Instant photo machine
A washing machine
A petrol pump
These photos belong to a brilliant German advertising campaign for Jobs in Town.
Still, I’m glad that these aren’t real people… Those would be awful working conditions.
* Thank you to Cara for the pics!
Grains of Sand 