MEDKOKD .MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDKOKD, OKEtiON
WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 18, lUKI
The Story of Automation -Part
Humans Stil
WASHINGTON (UP!) - The
average man uses only about
10 per cent o( his brain power,
and this has caused many
frightening predictions that
some day he will build a ma
chine so smart that it will over
whelm the human race. Rest
easy. We still have a big bulge
over the mechanical devices we
are creating.
Computers can do many mar
velous! things, but they cannot
think. They are helpless unless
a human being feeds into them
accurate information. Once they
get the information, they can
come up with the answer at a
speed which the human brain
cannot match. The DuPont Co.
once used a computer to solve
within 30 hours a chemical
problem that would have taken
a man 20 years on the arithme
tic alone.
Computers have infallible me
mories. They can store away
vast numbers of facts and
reach for the right one at the
right time. No human brain
could carry the mass of infor
mation that a computer handles
with ease. Several years ago
the United States Treasury pur
chased a computer that did the
work of 450 clerks.
Automation embraces many
things besides computers. Drive
through the countryside at har
vest time and you will under
stand immediately why there
has been a surge from the
farms to the cities. Machines
are doing the work that men
used to do. Or step into a mod
ern building with self service
elevators and press a button for
your floor. Automatic elevators
have thrown 40,000 men and
women out of work in New
York City alone.
All Have It
Every factory of any size in
the nation has some degree of
automation, and the machines
are formidable looking things.
But the computers are the gla
mor boys of automation be
cause they seem to come closer
than anything else to the proc
ess of thinking.
They come in all shapes and
sizes and prices. International
Business Machines has a data
processing system designed to
solve business and scientific
problems. It rents for $70,000 a
month or sells for $3,134,500.
Computers can compose sim
ple tunes, but Richard Rogers
and Irving Berlin are not going
to be put out of business imme
diately because the machines
can't cope with such intricate
musical constructions as "Some
Enchanted Evening" and
"White Christmas." Computers
can write simple poems if you
feed them the right stuff. You
have to put a rhyme scheme of
words (June and moon) into
their memory banks, indicate
the meter desired and the sub
ject of the poem. Shakespeare
still sounds much better. Com
puters can play chess and
checkers with skill simply be
cause all possible moves are
stored away and the right one
can be summoned instantly.
AH of these things attract at-
Enjoy
!
ulge Over
Mech
anical Devices
tention because with them we
seem to be moving toward a
"thinking machine" Ihat has
human brain power and intui
tion. But they are not the things
that cause the furious contro
versy over automation. What
the argument is all about is
computers that replace people.
Several years ago the Southern
Railroad put a computer to
work on its accounting and sta
tistical problems. It saved the
company $850,000 in the first
year of operation. It also
replaced some people.
By now most of the exports
have taken their stand on the
effects of automation on our
daily lives. Generally speaking,
management people contend au
tomation will create more jobs
than it eliminates. Unions ar
gue thj contrary and keep
pressing for immediate action
to provide work for persons
j they are confident will be
rthrown out of their jobs by ma
i chines.
I In this swirling battle it is un
usual to find a manufacturer
of automation machines who, in
j many respects, agrees with the
I unions and speaks his views
frankly. He is John I. Snyder,
president and chairman of the
board of U.S. Industries, Inc.,
New York. Last month he went
before the national convention
of the AFL-CIO and spoke his
pic :. He attacked what he
j called "the myths of automation":
That automation does not
eliminate jobs. Snyder: "De
troit is Ihe center of automa
tion and as a result is one of
our eoutnry's largest and most
critical unemployment areas."
That automation will create
enough jobs to match the num
ber of persons thrown out of
work. Snyder: "If Ihe equival-j
ent number of workers replaced
by automalion were required
lo build the machines and sys
tems, there would be no point
in aulomaling." j
That unemployed persons j
can be retrained lo woiK in
automated offices and factories.
Snyder: "In Huntington, W.Va.,
more than 1,000 hard-core un
employed were notified about
an area redevelopment training
program, wmy iwu uhik uiu ap
titude tests and only 240 quali
fied." Form Partnership
Snyder, of course, is not try
ing to halt the sale of his own
machines, but he insists the
time has come to stop talking
about automation and do some
thing. He has taken the first
step by forming with the ma
chinists union an organization
called "The American Founda
tion on Automalion and Em
ployent." A. J. Hayes, presi
(' .t of the union, is co-chairman
of the foundation.
The announced purpose of Ihs
foundation is to find some for
mula under which Snyder can
keep selling his machines and
Hayes can keep his men work
ing. Next: More leisure for Ilia
worker: Blessing or evil.
" 2
Sf4 XlICK "Vs EST
Self-Correcting
Secretary Needed
WASHINGTON (UPl) - The
U. S. Patent Office issued a
patent this week for a "self
correcting typewriter ribbon."
It was described as the answer
to a secretary's prayer.
A secretary I know put one
on her typewriter and it worked
fine. The ribbon hasn't made a
mistake yet.
Now if only someone will in
vent a self-correcting secretary,
the world will be a better place
in with to dictate.
Actually, the "self-correcting"
label is a bit of a misnomer.
The ribbon was not designed to
correct its own mistakes but to
make it easier for a secretary
to correct hers,
should have an "error key" that
would change Ihe ribbon posi
tion automatically.
He feels that way because he
also has invented an error key
At present, the erasure part
of the ribbon is while. There
fore, it only works on white
paper. But Wolowitz said plans
are afoot to produce it in pas
tel shades, which will make it
possibly to rectify colorful mis
takes. There is one problem, how
ever, that has not been solved.
The ribbon can only make eras
ures on one copy at a time.
That will prove to be a handi
cap for government secretaries,
William Wolowitz. a local man who make all of their mistakes
who invented it, has high hopes m triplicate.
that it will become a commer
cial success. He conceded, how.
ever, that it is not a "panacea."
Still Slight Problem
In other words, the ribbon will j
not solve the problem of a sec
retary who can't spell "pana
cea." She will still need a dic
tionary. Or a smart office boy.
The fact that Wolowitz's in
vention is not the final answer
to typing errors was demon
strated in a press release that
I received from the Spellripht
Corp., which markets the rib
bon. Whoever typed the release
goofed up the patent number.
Made it 3144447 instead of
3114447.
Had the secretary who typed
the release caught the mistake
at the time, she could have cor
rected it with the ribbon, which
has an inked strip for typing
and chalked strip for erasing.
Here Is Procedure
The nrocedure is as follows
Italian Premier
Faces Another
Crucial Test
ROME (UPI) Aldo Moro,
bolstered by a vote of con
fidence from the chamber of
deputies, today faced another
crucial test in the Italian sen
ate.
The senate debate is expect
ed to end Saturday with another
victory for Moro's new, center-
left coalition government. Tues
day night the chamber voted in t
favor, of the government by 350 1
to 233 with 4 abstentions and 43
absences.
But more trouble lay ahead !
for Vice Premier Pietro Nen
ni's left-wing Socialists, part
ners in the coalition with Moro's
Backspace to the first 4 and 1 Christian Democrats, the Social
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eiriWo the kev again with the
ribbon in the chalk position.
That would erase it. Then
backspace again and hit the
figure 1 with the ribbon in the
ink position.
That done, the secretary
would finish typing the release
Or perhaps take a coffee break.
Eventually. Wolowitz predict
ed it will not be necessary to
operate the ribbon shift lever
lo correct mistakes. He feels
that typewriters of the future
High Rise Housing
Set for Portland
PORTLAND iUPI) - The
Portland Housing Authority is
planning a new $4 million high
rise apartment unit here, ac
cording to an jly ri ' government's alleged weakness
who termed the proposal communism chanced
Democrats and the Republi
cans.
Twenty - five pro-Communists
within the Socialist party
walked out of the chamber
Tuesday night rather than vote
in favor ot the coalition.
Measures Considered
The party's leaders called a
meeting to consider disciplinary
measures against the rebels,
and a formal split within the
ranks appeared almost certain
in the next few days.
Apart from the secession by
the pro-Communists and a one
man revolt by right-wing Re
publican Randolfo Pacciardi,
the four-party coalition held
fast. The margin of victory was
considered solid.
Conservative Christian Demo
crats who had threatened to
walk out to protest the new
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their minds following a Vatican
and voted to support
"u-asteftll '
.,.1,1 - lA DnH.
land Home Builders Associa ion PP'
moimn that the authority plan-' Moro-
ned the building in the area of
SV Yamhill and Taylor and Ifith
and 17:h avenues.
Hallberg said he was "strong
lv opposed I" hi8n cost' msh
L..:u:r fnr nuhlii hnlis-
ins Tie suggested instead that f completion of , , 74.ono na-ine-storv
frame housing be built. ' I'-ral gas P''"p,hV rthw-es
u. ..'-.a ih ritv Council had . Natural Gas Co. trom Corvalhs
Iir floiu ."- .
yet to approve the site and sug
Cofvos-Pfiomotri
Gas Line Opened
PHILOMATH, Ore. (UPI) -'
Brief ceremonies Monday mark-
iesled it was "probably the last
place where this could be stopped."
to Philomath
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