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by bluedino 2126 days ago
What are people spending tons of time these days, doing menial tasks?

I guess there’s commuting and sleeping. Maybe eating and exercising?

2 comments

I actually stopped to think about your question for a while, and honestly all I can think of what "we" still need to do ourselves is organizing everything - getting ready in the morning, organizing and preparing meals, and housework, even if it's helped with vacuums and dishwashers etc. I'm sure there's tech companies working in this area (like the overcomplicated clothes folding machine, or Soylent).

Right now even for those there's a solution, but they involve outsourcing things which cost more money / recurring expenses; laundry service, cleaners, takeout / delivered food, personal assistants, day care / babysitters, etc. I can't really see a revolution happening in those areas.

I mean I'm sure in time it'll be possible to buy a machine that does full service laundry, but it'll take up a lot of space. Maybe something for apartment building basements, and your clothes would need to be tagged (e.g. RFID) with ownership and washing information.

Of course, alternatively you go for the dys/utopian scenario where everyone lives in worker housing complexes, wears the same functional outfit, eats in food halls / canteens three times a day, etc. I'm sure some people do live or have lived like that already. But the issue with that is that in those scenarios, people live to work, there's not much outside of their employment, and they live where they work. I'm sure this happens a lot in SF anyway.

Based on your post it seems:

1. Living walking distance from work/school

2. Working fewer days

3. Communal eating option (eg local subsidized cafes)

Tech is the menial task now. We are wasting time looking at our smart watches!