Weymouth High School - Campus / Reflector Yearbook (Weymouth, MA)

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AUTOMATION BUSINESS fo Anne Defiusf ITI-I TI-IE modern concept of automation, undoubtedly an industrial revo- lution is present in the business world today, promising more leisure, relief from menial tasks, and an assured prosperity through higher productivity. This era has resulted after the introduction of modern automatic machin- ery that does a man's work, greatly increases production, and facilitates office detail and computing. Companies, once swamped by ofiice work, have installed new devices such as the I.B.lVl. electric typewriter, magic electronic machines. and urobotv computers of many different types and sizes. One of the first big computers, the General Electric UNIVAC, has proved its importance in figur- ing the payroll and in printing checks, another type of equal importance is used in the Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago doing the work of two hun- dred clerks and saving Z750,000 a year. Ar a conference in Los Angeles, a senior member of a large accounting firm remarked, Computers are the outstanding development of technology and are positively vital to management. Their import- ance can be compared to that of the bulldozer in the construction industry. A question most commonly asked today is whether, with the introduction of the automatic machines, the average worker will suffer because of lack of po- sitions. A vice-president of Ford Motor Company, Del S. Harder, claims that the outcome will furnish more jobs, create more products at less cost, and in- crease the ability of the people to consume. He believes that the automatic ma- chine is the key to less human effort in the future and will improve the present

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The first demands of the airplane came at the outset of World War I, when it became evident that it would prove potent as an offensive weapon Engineers and physicists have worked long and hard, developing newer and better aircraft by improving former designs Through the years, aviation has advanced into jet aircraft, complying with the ever increasing public demands for speed and effi ciency in our modern times Recent developments include such planes as the Navy s Pogo, capable of taking off and landing vertically Swiveling wings and propellers are playing an ever important role in the search which scientists hope will eventually eliminate the need for cumbersome mile long runways Perhaps the ideal or ultimate of this type of jet aircraft will find itself in the flying wing or Delta type planes, which will one day be able to land as the helicopter does, without sacrificing speed or efhciency Aviation however, is but one of many phases of recent scientific develop ments Advances in radar, communication, radio, television and, of course, atomic energy are among those fields which affect the public daily Perhaps the field of atomic energy receives the least apparent public approval or apprecla vances, came about in direct response to the needs and requirements of an ever growing world a world whose resources are gradually shrinking, a world dependent upon unpredictable power sources, in all, a world in dire need of newer and more plentiful sources of power with which to maintain and further the growth of in dustry and commerce, insuring nations of security and prosperity Thus we see that men like Einstein and Vannevar Bush were far from being mad scientists, but rather they played the more prominent roles in the unleashing of the atom and its power We must accept, therefore, the fact that the atomic bomb was simply the unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable, result of progress With the proper understanding, mankind may soon b rid of the threat of the atom, and turn all its vast potential energy to peaceful purposes The scient1st's dependency, even today, upon his environment for ideas and inspirations, and the advancement of civilization, in turn dependent upon science for its own progress, can be traced with far more vividness than is given here Considering the past, we may speculate upon the future and draw the con clusion that we need neither fear nor despise the aims and goals of science today We must realize that science will continue to serve mankind only as long as we, living as we do in a free democracy, continue to pursue the high ideals for which our forefathers fought and died in order to preserve the God given rights and freedoms of mankind , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, . . ,, . . . , - ' 7 tive understanding. Few people realize that this, too, like all other scientific ad-

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standard of l1v1ng Expandmg busmess IS affording opportun1t1es for new post tlons every day for lnstance, the hlgh speed electromc computer programmers, analysts, and operators, as well as numerous clerks to comptle the mformatlon Thls IS an age of spec1al1zat1on when concentratlon w1ll be placed on the worker who IS skllled ln secretarlal trammg, buslness admxnlstratlon, or mechan1cal tech nology It has been sald that the real office revolutlon IS not a machine revolutlon at all, lt IS a systems revolut1on Now lt seems that much of the mundane slde of the work can be accompllshed by machmes ln a comparatlvely short tlme As was remarked ln Office Executlve, Today we must spend more tnme teachmg the clerncal help to be techn1c1ans, rather than bookkeepers or accountants We have been assured that the office 15 not golng to vanlsh ln the future, only certain phases of It For a gllmpse of what office llfe may be ln a few years, let us conslder the new headquarters of the Standard Vacuum Oll Company ln Wh1te Plams, New York At the push of a button, walls move, curtains shlft, and maps or motlon plcture projectors appear From any one of the 245 remote d1c tat1on transcrxptxon statlons 1n the bulldlng, a person can pnck up a telephone l1ke lnstrument to dlctate a letter to a central transcrlptlon room where the materlal IS transcr1bed and then returned to the dlctator Another feature IS the fully automat1c pneumatlc tube system Wlth one cen trallzed flllng office, by whtch objects up to seven pounds ln weight can be sent to any part of the bulldmg, w1th1n a matter of seconds, merely by puttmg them 1nto a plastxc contalner at a d1spatch1ng statlon and settxng the dlal to mdlcate des tmatlon Wlth such ultra modern features, lt IS easy to understand the remark made in the magazlne, Today s Secretary The secretarles 1n the Standard Vacuum O11 Company are hlghly skllled and have a vast knowledge of the bust ness They are glven txme to develop and do things on thelr own, ln reallty, they are admmlstratlve assxstants to the leadlng executnves of the company Desplte all these modern mventlons, from an electrlc pencll sharpener to the h1gh speed electromc computer, the fact remalns that busmess graduates are stlll ln great demand We need not fear automatlon, but face It w1th the same confidence that the late Phlllp Murray expressed when he sald I do not know of a smgle lnstance In whxch a technologncal galn has taken place 1n the Umted States of America that has thrown people out of work The lndustrlal revolution that has been takmg place ln busxness during the past twenty five years has brought mto the employment Held an addxtnonal twenty mxllxon people 7 . . ' Q! ' 79 CC 1 ' . . . 7, - . . ' ' QQ 7 77 if ' ' , - H . . . . . . , - - - - n