Foxconn Just Replaced 60,000 Workers With Robots

originally posted by: ObjectZero
a reply to: eluryh22

It looks like fast food chains are looking to move to more machines over having to pay people more. Can't say I'm surprised at this, I'm a little surprised it's taken this long. But with the $15 minimum being pushed around it looks like automation is being rushed along now.

Except the example in this thread is Robot Automation in China where they make a dollar an hour average, not 15 dollars an hour, and still they are automating.

If it is cheaper to automate than paying a dollar an hour, then the minimum wage argument is a smoke screen.
Business has been automating for years before the minimum wage argument.

I guess what it really comes down to, if we can automate the majority of our living needs, then why do we need business owners to do it when we can automate their job as well?

originally posted by: jacobe001

originally posted by: ObjectZero
a reply to: eluryh22

It looks like fast food chains are looking to move to more machines over having to pay people more. Can't say I'm surprised at this, I'm a little surprised it's taken this long. But with the $15 minimum being pushed around it looks like automation is being rushed along now.

Except the example in this thread is Robot Automation in China where they make a dollar an hour average, not 15 dollars an hour, and still they are automating.

If it is cheaper to automate than paying a dollar an hour, then the minimum wage argument is a smoke screen.
Business has been automating for years before the minimum wage argument.

I guess what it really comes down to, if we can automate the majority of our living needs, then why do we need business owners to do it when we can automate their job as well?

You forget china is a communist country. There government will actually pay for automation.they will not however pay labor costs. So Chinese companies are difrent then the rest of thr world. If a company in china wants to automate they send a request and they are given money to do so. Govt there will even pay for housing for your workers if requested. But oddly do not consider paying people as a state responsibility

Consumers drive the economy, this area just lost 60k consumers they aren't going to buy iPhones or tv's or the internets. The economy will be destroyed if there are no consumers. The more jobs are replaced by robots the weaker the economy will become.

originally posted by: dragonridr

You forget china is a communist country. There government will actually pay for automation.they will not however pay labor costs. So Chinese companies are difrent then the rest of thr world. If a company in china wants to automate they send a request and they are given money to do so. Govt there will even pay for housing for your workers if requested. But oddly do not consider paying people as a state responsibility

This is a good point.
The market is controlled top down and Labor has no bargaining power in China either as is required under capitalism.
You have to laugh at the American Capitalists Corporations getting in bed with a Communist Country

The current arrangement gives them all the up sides with no downsides

I'm kind of surprised by the amount of automation/robotic support in this thread, especially by some members who condemn the export of jobs to other countries.

The loss of a job that a human being can be used to perform is the loss of a job. It doesn't matter in what manner a job is lost, it is a lost job. We don't need any more lost jobs unless we are going to become a complete welfare economy. Call it basic income, whatever. I see all kinds of new terms on ATS that belong to old definitions.

The economy is changing. The dynamics of living a normal life is changing. But still, people need water & food, housing, clothing, utilities, medical care and transportation. If they can't provide for themselves, they need those items given to them. That's a fact and even the vilest of criminals locked in the harshest of penitentiaries are provided the same. It's only just that ordinary, crimeless people are afforded the same. If people can't earn money, they will need to be provided for.

I've always been a conservative. But I can see where the amount of jobs cannot support the amount of people available and needing to work. There has to be some compromise from everyone so that everyone can live quality lives. The amount of waste by the government and it's agencies is astronomical. Taking away their money and a lot of their power would enable support for individuals. Continuing to bring in more and more individuals from other countries sabotages the economical strength of a country. The whole country needs an overhaul and it's coming sooner than we think or realize. There will be a lot of adjustment pains but they can't be avoided. I read an interesting article (2 Billion Jobs to Disappear by 2030) that might also be of interest to others. Here is one quote:

In addition to the things I’ve mentioned, oil exploration will begin to shut down, the coal industry will all but disappear, large power plants will be shut down and sold for scrap, all nuclear power plants will be decommissioned, and people everywhere will have access to power. Even people living on islands, northern Canada, and in Antartica. Old energy markets around the world will begin to collapse and new energy markets will become the hotest thing since the Internet craze of the late 1990s. People will begin buying up houses under power lines because that real estate will suddenly become valuable. Neighborhoods will be designed differently and all City planning departments will have to rethink their jobs. And this is just scratching the surface. - See more at: www.futuristspeaker.com...