How NewTechnology Replaced Secretaries.

[Virtual_Burlesque]

TV-like machines replace secretaries

From “The National,” CBC
Aug 26, 1978


There are no secretaries at this Canadian National Railway office. No typewriters, either. Management has replaced the old-fashioned machines with time-saving "word processors." These green-screened machines, operated by specially-trained staff, resemble small television sets with keyboards. Operators perform twice the work of one secretary using a standard typewriter. With the new invention, entire paragraphs can now be moved around within one document and mistakes erased by backspacing and retyping.

Link to "That Was Then..." Video Clip.

That's right! Now, they are all Personal Assistants.

 

[LadyJeanne]

That's right! Now, they are all Personal Assistants.

Actually, they've gone further and become PDA's. And we publicly fondle their buttons, either with affection or aggravation, everywhere we go.

 

[NoJo]

I'm working on a Post-It stealing machine right now to make them redundant too.

 

[Guest]

I'm working on a Post-It stealing machine right now to make them redundant too.

Preservation and Care of Philatelic Materials
Subsidiary Page 15
Stick Notes ("Post It" Notes)

It did not take long after their introduction in the late 1970's for 3M's Post-It notes and other self-sticking note tabs to be used by postal historians and others. To most collectors, this was a means of making notes about the cover on a connecting self-stick tab, rather than on the cover itself, and thereby lessening damage to the cover. As a device for holding an idea or making a temporary note, these self stick note tabs rival the paper clip in simplicity of design and ease of use.

These note tabs, though, fail as a means of retaining information for posterity. They have invaded postal history collections and dealers' stocks. They threaten to damage the items with which they come into contact.

The Post-It note came about when Art Fry, a product development specialist at the 3M Company and who also sang in his church choir, had a problem. The paper book marks he used in his hymnal constantly fell out, leaving him searching for the verses. He remembered that some years before, his colleague, Dr. Spencer Silver, had discovered a high tack adhesive that was easy to remove. Mr. Fry soon produced some self sticking book marks at 3M. After months of testing and market research, the 3M Company began to market Post-It notes.

Research scientists have carried out tests that show all notes of this type leave some residue adhesive behind when removed from papers. Analysis shows that the adhesive used on Post-It notes is an acrylate polymer. Adhesive left behind will result in pages sticking together. Dirt will accumulate on the sticky surface, necessitating conservation treatment in order to remove it.

A competitor's product uses a polybutylene base adhesive. These adhesives discolor and lose adhesion over time. The adhesive on self stick notes will also lift some typewriter and electrostatic printing inks and text when placed over a printed area, particularly after a prolonged period.

The paper used for these notes is also of some concern. Most have an acceptable pH level of 5.0 to 8.3. However, these papers contain lignin, indicating a low quality wood pulp and/or alumrosin sizing. Both components contribute to instability and the deterioration of paper. It is recommended that self-stick notes should not be used on covers or objects of importance or value.


END OF SUBSIDIARY PAGE 15


Oh, the humanity.

 

[R. Richard]

In a previous life, I was a computer consultant. [I still do a little of it.] As a consultant, I talked with a secretary who had gone through the shift from typewriter to word processor. Her firm had tried to replace secretaries with word processor operators. However, the managers warded off the chage with KEY QUESTIONS!

Who gonna' make my coffee in the morning?

Who gonna' deal with my ex-wife on the phone damn near every day?

Who gonna' remind me [manager term for "wake me up"] for meetings?

The mental deficient who suggested the elimination of secretaries, without understanding the true function of a secretary, was then given a new assignment. The new assignment involved a crash course in writing; writing his resume.

Progress marches on!

 

[oggbashan]

My eldest aunt, now sadly long deceased, was a Lady Typewriter well before the First World War. Managers used to visit her room to marvel at the speed on the new technology she was operating. Still keeping her typewriter, but upgrading to newer and better models as they became available, she became a Secretary. That had been traditionally a man's role. (She was a Suffragette!)

Eventually, in the 1930s, she became the Company Secretary. That is Secretary of the Company's Board of Directors and a Director in her own right. The Company Secretary role is second only to the Chairman of the Board and/or the Managing Director.

She used to annoy her younger brothers, both very senior Civil Servants, because whatever exalted roles they reached, she was still earning at least 20% more than either of them even though women in those days were routinely paid less than men.

When she died, aged 91, she was still employed as a part-time pensions adviser and running a Sunday School for 'difficult' teenagers referred by the Probation Service.

She always called herself a 'Secretary' once she had left the role of 'Lady Typewriter'.

Og

PS. One thing she couldn't beat her brothers at. Both had started their adult careers as Telegraphists. Their keyboard skills were always faster than hers and she was very slow at Morse. At 89 my father could still achieve 90% of his speed on the 1920s telegraph machine he had used in his teens.

 

[Guest]

My eldest aunt, now sadly long deceased, was a Lady Typewriter well before the First World War. Managers used to visit her room to marvel at the speed on the new technology she was operating. Still keeping her typewriter, but upgrading to newer and better models as they became available, she became a Secretary. That had been traditionally a man's role. (She was a Suffragette!)

Eventually, in the 1930s, she became the Company Secretary. That is Secretary of the Company's Board of Directors and a Director in her own right. The Company Secretary role is second only to the Chairman of the Board and/or the Managing Director.

She used to annoy her younger brothers, both very senior Civil Servants, because whatever exalted roles they reached, she was still earning at least 20% more than either of them even though women in those days were routinely paid less than men.

When she died, aged 91, she was still employed as a part-time pensions adviser and running a Sunday School for 'difficult' teenagers referred by the Probation Service.

She always called herself a 'Secretary' once she had left the role of 'Lady Typewriter'.

Og

PS. One thing she couldn't beat her brothers at. Both had started their adult careers as Telegraphists. Their keyboard skills were always faster than hers and she was very slow at Morse. At 89 my father could still achieve 90% of his speed on the 1920s telegraph machine he had used in his teens.

Nice memories and good points.

Your father would have appreciated the contest recently held in Australia where a 90 year telegraphist telegraphed in morse a message faster than a 13 year old girl sending the same text as a text message on her mobile phone. Even though she could use abbreviations and two thumbs, he beat her handily.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

. . . Even though she could use abbreviations and two thumbs, he beat her handily.

Shouldn't that be thumb merrily ?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

How do you think I feel with all those shares of the Dietzgen Slide Rule Company I bought back in the '70's?

Hey, the world was going high-tech. I figured we were really going to need those slip-sticks.

 

[oggbashan]

High Tech

I opened a bottle of 2000 Côtes du Roussillon for our evening meal.

The cork had the following inscription:

"Bouton Haute Technologie"

Apart from being reconstituted cork instead of solid cork there didn't seem to be anything high tech about it.

The wine was good.

Og