Computers in Daily Life

[Hugh Ferrier]

Perspective on the necessity of computers in daily life...

An unemployed man goes to try for a job with Microsoft as a cleaner. The manager there arranges for an aptitude test (Section: Floors, sweeping and cleaning). After the test, the manager says: You will be appointed on the scale of $30 per day. Let me have your e-mail address, so that I can send you a form to complete and advise you where to report for work on your first day.

Taken aback, the unemployed man protests that he is neither in possession of a computer nor of an e-mail address. To this the MS manager replies: Well, then, that really means that you virtually don't exist and can therefore hardly expect to be employed. Stunned, the man leaves. Not knowing where to turn and only having about $10 left, he decides to buy a 10 kg box of tomatoes at the supermarket. Within less than 2 hours, he sells the tomatoes singly at 100% profit. Repeating the process several times more that day, he ends up with almost $100 before going to sleep that night. And thus it dawns on the man that he could quite easily make a living selling tomatoes.

Getting up early and earlier every day and going to bed late and later, he multiplies his hoard of profits in quite a short time. Not too long thereafter, he acquires a cart to transport several dozen boxes of tomatoes, only to have to trade it in again shortly afterwards on a pickup truck. By the end of the second year, he is the owner of a fleet of pickup trucks and manages a staff of a hundred former unemployed people, all selling tomatoes. Considering the future of his wife and children, he decides to buy some life assurance.

Calling an insurance adviser, he picks an insurance plan to fit his new circumstances. At the end of the telephone conversation, the adviser asks him for his e-mail address in order that he might forward the documentation. When the man replies that he has no e-mail, the adviser is stunned: "What, you don't even have e-mail? How on earth have you managed to amass such wealth without the Internet, e-mail and e-commerce?

Just imagine where you would have been by now, if you had been connected from the very start!" After a moment's silence, the tomato millionaire replied: "Sure! I would have been a cleaner at Microsoft!" Moral of the story: 1: The Internet, e-mail and e-commerce do not need to rule your life. 2: If you don't have e-mail, but work hard, you can still become a millionaire. 3: Seeing that you got this story via e-mail, you're probably closer to becoming a cleaner than you are to becoming a millionaire. 4: If you do have a computer and e-mail, you're already being taken to the cleaners by Microsoft.


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[Richard Quartermaine]

And at doesn't bear to think of the mess everyone except the self sustaining hermit in a hidden cave will be in if the whole system crashes.
Richard

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi shipmates,Going to sea. First on tree trunks, then hollow logs,then dugouts then bullrush boats,then bamboo rafts then people became smart....and proper ship happen with sails and oars then sails then wheels then engines whats next?????? = progress you cant stop it...whats next for computers????= interface with your brain? =progress .

[Lou Barron]

In another 50 years ahead or so we will be all robots so instead of taking a cruise it will be a trip to the moon ?? .I still love my laptop otherwise I would not be able on this wonderful site thanks to you Brian

[j.sabourn]

#3... Hopefully time travel and can all go back to what era we started at. Maybe alter history by smothering a few who came through as politicians after having failed the grade of a used car salesman. John S

[Lou Barron]

I should have mentioned that I also thank Vernon and Tony for the help I have had over the years thanks guys

[j.sabourn]

#3... Or you could have said Louis, Wooden ships and Iron men. then Iron ships and wooden men, then no men and no ships. Cheers John S

[john sutton]

re the start of this thread.
The story originates from a J.B.Priestley short story entitled "The Verger".
Still a good post though