Love the guy's almost anti tech stance. From his fb page:
>I am apparently no longer fit to live on this planet.
Over the last month or so I have received some disturbing emails. When summarized they say that they love the POS software. It does everything they want and more, they could not be more pleased with it and if it was not free they would have been more than happy to pay for it. However they are going to have to dump it and go find a different POS program that will probably not be as perfect for them as DHPOS and will have to pay for it to boot.
The problem is that their younger employees hate it. Either they cannot figure out how to use it because it requires input from the keyboard or they are appalled because when they swipe the screen nothing happens.
Cry me a river.
Apparently smartphone use makes one useless for any other function which is yet another reason to avoid them like the plague that they are. I am increasingly distressed that this page has become an endless rant about smartphones but it does seem as though they have become ubiquitous with the only exception to my knowledge being my pants. In the last month my only co-conspiracy relative has gone over to the dark side and I am now alone.
Over the last week I built a cart to hold folding tables (photo below) for the 6 Corners Association that did not in any way require the use of a smartphone, no swiping required, no cat videos attached, and my attention was focused on reality as evidenced by the fact that I still have possession of all of my fingers. Plus I had buckets of fun to boot. I am quite proud of it and since it is real I have no worries of someone accidentally deleting it or of it being hacked and remotely being sent to scoot down Milwaukee Avenue as a hazard to the populace.
I find real life to be endlessly fascinating, plus if I leave my flip phone at home or the battery dies or the phone gets crushed by a plummeting cement block, I’m good, not a problem. I know where I am (since I never left reality) and I can get anywhere I need to go since I pretty much know where everything I might need is. If I need to contact someone I have a printed list of phone numbers in my wallet. However when I am with someone else and their smartphone dies the look of panic on their face is alarming. I try to console them.
So please do not even think of holding a tag-day to purchase a smartphone for me because I am more than fine without one and it would only make me wonder why you hate me.
He seems to be a fun guy with a really positive attitude.
> Today was my regular 4 month visit to see Doctor G. Due to unanimous threats of death from all the doctors I see, in the last 4 months I have managed to lose 25 pounds. (I am sure that they are here somewhere but I am not going to try to find them.)
> She was very happy with me and like many other folks asked me what diet plan I was using. I replied that it is one of my own creation that I call the “Move more, eat less” diet. This basically consists of taking a long walk every day, go work in the garage and not sit at the computer all the time, and not putting anything in my mouth that I would actually want to eat, ie, if it tastes really good then I should not be eating it.
Honestly, He sounds pretty typical for a lot of late 50s early 60 years old programmers I know. Their relationships with machines has been very different, as has their relationship to the world. I find a lot of them, dislike the way the world has changed in regards to computers, and honestly I can see a lot of what they are saying, albeit with less angst and zeal.
I haven't even hit fifty yet (31 months to go!) and I already feel that way. My first 'proper' job when I was ~20 was as junior sysadmin on a large DEC VAXCluster[1] which are mainframe-like, and over the past three decades of working with computers, I too am very sad at how commoditised it has all become. Programming is mainly now just a process of bolting existing libraries together with no real idea of how everything works, hardware is now shrunk down to effectively be like magic, and unless you constantly jump aboard the latest fad, you are considered obsolete. The fun and discover-ability of the whole thing has completely gone. It's a real shame.
I barely hit thirty and I already start to feel that way (as evidenced by frequent rants on HN on dumbing down of software).
I feel for the guy. Sad thing is, the people refusing to use a powerful and efficient piece of software because they can't click or swipe will be suffering and wondering why their job is miserable. And the customers standing in the queue will be suffering too - especially the ones who've seen efficient POS software being used in other shops.
And as an aside the best and fastest POS I ever used was a DOS-based system. I ;earned to key on the number pad because of it (now I need any external keyboard I use to have one). We actually got so good we could key up entire processes, invoices before the screens could update! This was pre-iPhone/touchscreens everywhere and I thought it looked old and outdated when I started. My appreciation grew after working with it, though.
I'm only just about to be closer to 40 than I am 30 and I feel kinship with these people. Almost every day I see something going on in the industry or on HN or even just whatever horrors the Windows Update team have unleashed recently and need to go outside and shout at clouds for about 20 minutes.
If you find me being less than pleasant on this site, it's usually because I'm talking to someone who is making me feel this way. It's like the modern technology landscape has somehow forgotten the wisdom that was built up over generations. It's infuriating.
The funniest thing imaginable would be for this guy to run into a mainframe dev and get lambasted for "OMG I can't believe your software needs one of those toddler computers, surely a 3270 is good enough"
Initial (chaotic, ad hoc, individual heroics) - the starting point for use of a new or undocumented repeat process.
Repeatable - the process is at least documented sufficiently such that repeating the same steps may be attempted.
Defined - the process is defined/confirmed as a standard business process
Capable - the process is quantitatively managed in accordance with agreed-upon metrics.
Efficient - process management includes deliberate process optimization/improvement.
"Amish churches regulate use of technology through a set of oral guidelines known as the Ordnung. ...
In some cases, after careful evaluation, consensus may develop around a particular technology, which may lead to its being adopted by the church district and incorporated into the Ordnung.:
so: takeaway: amish are at highest CMM, and actually very technologically advanced by CMM metric..
>I am apparently no longer fit to live on this planet.
Over the last month or so I have received some disturbing emails. When summarized they say that they love the POS software. It does everything they want and more, they could not be more pleased with it and if it was not free they would have been more than happy to pay for it. However they are going to have to dump it and go find a different POS program that will probably not be as perfect for them as DHPOS and will have to pay for it to boot.
The problem is that their younger employees hate it. Either they cannot figure out how to use it because it requires input from the keyboard or they are appalled because when they swipe the screen nothing happens.
Cry me a river.
Apparently smartphone use makes one useless for any other function which is yet another reason to avoid them like the plague that they are. I am increasingly distressed that this page has become an endless rant about smartphones but it does seem as though they have become ubiquitous with the only exception to my knowledge being my pants. In the last month my only co-conspiracy relative has gone over to the dark side and I am now alone.
Over the last week I built a cart to hold folding tables (photo below) for the 6 Corners Association that did not in any way require the use of a smartphone, no swiping required, no cat videos attached, and my attention was focused on reality as evidenced by the fact that I still have possession of all of my fingers. Plus I had buckets of fun to boot. I am quite proud of it and since it is real I have no worries of someone accidentally deleting it or of it being hacked and remotely being sent to scoot down Milwaukee Avenue as a hazard to the populace.
I find real life to be endlessly fascinating, plus if I leave my flip phone at home or the battery dies or the phone gets crushed by a plummeting cement block, I’m good, not a problem. I know where I am (since I never left reality) and I can get anywhere I need to go since I pretty much know where everything I might need is. If I need to contact someone I have a printed list of phone numbers in my wallet. However when I am with someone else and their smartphone dies the look of panic on their face is alarming. I try to console them.
So please do not even think of holding a tag-day to purchase a smartphone for me because I am more than fine without one and it would only make me wonder why you hate me.
https://facebook.com/daleharrispos/photos/a.408929929488156/...