hahn2

Hahn ch. 2

questions and comments about the quiz:

What are the advantages and disadvantages for a business (and workers) of having the workers work at home?

Today	Industrial Revolution
less focused working at home
working at home saves transportation time	there wasn't enough housing near the factories
more flexible schedule	everyone had to work at the same time because water power ran all the machines at the same time
	boss cannot regulate workers nearly as well if they are working at home
we can communicate so easily from home because of technology	communication was difficult in the putting out system
you have your own custom environment, more comfortable
larger network of potential employees if they work remotely	the factory system was only possible because there was a surplus of workers willing to move
much harder to demonstrate things if workers are at home
people with disabilities can work at more jobs because they can do them remotely
harder to build relationships with your coworkers online
no separation between work and home	children worked in the factories
mental health--we are social creatures	being with people at work made connections with people who would help you if you were in trouble

more on water power

what patterns do you notice in the invention of different textile machines?
simple weaving on a rigid heddle loom (PEM photo)

an invention was a combination of previous machines, the challenge was to make it work
take existing ways of working and speed them up or multiply them (for example spin many threads at once)
factories are different from workshops of artisans because everyone has to work at the same time
how power got from the waterwheel to the machines: https://www.core77.com/posts/58982/How-Did-Factories-Get-Power-to-Their-Machines-Before-Electricity
notice that Arkwright invents a system: he brings together technologies "not only for spinning, but also for using inanimate waterpower, and for enclosing production within walls that were not homes." (p. 71)

other inputs:

for water power you need a location with a waterfall or swiftly moving stream
you need people to work in the factory: the first answer was children of families that could not support themselves (paupers). Factory owners only had to provide food and housing, not necessarily any wages because the children were supposedly learning a trade

in the present day	in the industrial revolution
more danger of getting distracted at home	people working at home usually also did some farming, so that distracted them
	you can have bigger more expensive machines in factories than at home
companies can save on office space	building a factory was expensive so think about why was it worth doing
	less risk of injuries at home
	factory is more productive
if you lose power or internet you can't do your work
trying to find a balance between work and family/outside life	children worked in factories
	easier to monitor quality of work in a factory, and particularly uniformity
	workers have access to people to fix broken machines quickly
you lose informal communication, harder to have a sense of community	harder to communicate working from home
more comfortable at home--you can wear shorts, save on transportation costs	shortage of housing near the factories
	transportation of materials much more difficult from workers homes, harder to keep track of flow
harder to work with customers and suppliers if you can't travel

Present Day	Industrial Revolution
stop the spread of disease
people may be less productive without the social aspect of the workplace
allows parents to stay home with their children (but hard not to have separation of work and home)	children had to work in the factories
public transportation increases danger of infection, time saved not having to commute	better to work from home because of lack of transportation, housing shortages near factories
in the future businesses will not need to pay for as much office space	factories were expensive to build
communication is much better in person	difficult to have teamwork working from home
you can work at your own pace with less supervision	factory owner thought workers needed more supervision, but also with water the machines all had to run at the same time
limited access to what you can bring home, do workers have to pay for their own internet?	you can have more expensive machines in the factories than workers could buy for their homes
companies get off easy because workers pay for technology at home	factory owners had to pay for all the machines
	children could learn the trade at home (and in the factories too)
loss of production because of family distractions	most people who worked from home also did some farming, so that was the important distraction
harder to manage people working at home	harder to manage people working at home
	working at home made it hard to control quality and uniformity
time zones make it difficult to coordinate meetings if you don't travel
	factories provided housing and therefore had more control of their workers
you can work at any time	in factories everyone had to work at the same time because with water the machines all ran at once