Lazy Farmers

I used to think farmers were some of the hardest working people in the world.

Last weekend I was talking to my friend Matt, who works on a farm. I mentioned that I'd like to work on a farm for a week, to get the feel for what it's like, but no longer because I hear it's incredibly hard work.

His response?

"No it's not. Thanks to technology, we hardly do any work now."

Excuse me?

Apparently with the advances in modern technology, a GPS drives the tractor, a machine harvests the grain, a computer sorts the potatoes and the human oversees it all.

Those lazy farmers!

But as I thought about it, we've all become lazy.

Scott Jackson loves to point out that when he started in radio they played "carts" on the air. The DJ would have to find the right cart, cue it up, and start play at the right time. Mix in taking phone calls and  sounding like a star when the mic is on, and Scott claims he'd be soaking wet with sweat by the end of a show.

Now the DJ has a computer that finds the song on a hard-drive, cues it up and starts it when the preceding song ends. All the DJ has to do is turn the mic on and be awesome.

Sounds even lazier than Matt the farmer.

No, farming isn't as difficult as it used to be; but they still work harder than a radio DJ, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.

How has technology made your job easier?