4-11-18

thoughts on Nye paper:

• don't lump together the 1920 and the 1970s as examples of the same thing
• watch out for change over time:
• initially workers and public were positive about the assembly line, demand was so high that there were still plenty of jobs
  
• in the 1930s overproduction was a problem and there were not enough jobs--losing jobs to machines became a fear
• in the 1940s, more production becomes essential and there are plenty of jobs
• this continues pretty well after the war because of the consumer boom
• 1960s reaction against conformity
• 1970s &80s industrial jobs begin to decline
• more automation, beginning of the robots that could directly replace workers
• outsourcing--factories move to countries with cheaper labor
• other countries have developed better ways to run assembly lines using teams
  
• 1990s on factory worker pay tends to decline
• make sure your thesis statement fits the assignment and you stick to it in the rest of your paper
• think about the history of production machines, not just consumer technology
  

Fawn Alvarez: assembly line work is still no fun, at least engineers listened to workers
there was a culture of treating workers well enough so they would not need unions
when are unions needed:

• are there enough jobs that workers won't take jobs with bad conditions?
• if it is easy to replace workers, then companies can treat them badly and workers still have to take those jobs
• the only way to get decent conditions is to organize a union and strike
• individual workers can't negotiate very well with a big company, if they band together they have the clout to make the company meet their demands
• if workers are treated well they don't need to organize
  

ROLM was a company that made rugged military computers and sophisticated telephone systems

Al Acorn:

Atari was moving on to the first programmable game console that could run different games: Video Computer System
controversy over Death Race game

Atari was sold to Warner Communications (holding company for Warner Brothers Pictures and Warner Music Group and also owned DC comics and Mad)
the entertainment industry was taking notice of video games
how to rein in the wild and crazy culture and sloppy business practices of the startups
What worried Warner?
They should have been used to dealing with creative types



what did it take to succeed?