Today’s links The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us: Microsoft, Oracle, and other bossware dealers are transforming our workplaces with “virtual whips.” Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2019 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I’ve been. Latest books: You keep readin’ em, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Colophon: All the rest. The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us (permalink) In thinking about the relationship between tech and labor, one of the most useful conceptual frameworks is “centaurs” vs “reverse-centaurs”: https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/ A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own. A reverse-centaur is someone who is harnessed to the machine, reduced to a mere peripheral for a cruelly tireless robotic overlord that directs you to do the work that it can’t, at a robotic pace, until your body and mind are smashed. Bosses love being centaurs. While workplace monitoring is as old as Taylorism – the “scientific management” of the previous century that saw labcoated frauds dictating the fine movements of working people in a kabuki of “efficiency” – the lockdowns saw an explosion of bossware, the digital tools that let bosses monitor employees to a degree and at a scale that far outstrips the capacity of any unassisted human being. Armed with bossware, your boss becomes a…Pluralistic: The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us (02 Aug 2024)