Do individuals and businesses rely too heavily on technology? In today’s world more businesses are becoming “self-serve”. Kids are playing on computers instead of interacting with playmates outside and learning how to develop relationships.

In the early 1900’s grocery stores became self-serve; today there are self-checkout lanes. You cannot talk to a machine when it misreads a scan. In the mid 1940’s self-pumped gas was introduced, in the mid 1960’s the first ATM machine was installed and in the 1990’s the first airplane ticket was sold over the internet. What happens to jobs when we become so self-service oriented that employees are no longer needed? Don’t get me wrong, technology is good and fun, but, are we losing relationship skills and memory only to rely upon technology and machines?

If something fails to work properly it is always better to talk to a “live” person instead of a telephone with options. Customer service should not be the responsibility of the customer. What happens to communication when the public decides to do business with a kiosk? If the machine breaks a repairman must be called but does anyone know who to call? When a cash register or calculator malfunctions will the employee be able to do simple arithmetic to give change back? What happened to interacting with customers? How many businesses do you know that don’t have voice mail? It seems today you can do almost anything over the internet from banking to ordering pizza and viewing the delivery status from start to final destination! You can check yourself and your baggage in at the airline kiosk and order groceries online skipping the clerk, and so forth.