Three stories in today’s news demonstrate the adage that “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose”, or to put it another way… in the shades of some apparant victory, some will or may get hurt:
- From the “They Said It Would Never Work” Department: Well, an NBC official has confirmed it: after the Winter Olympics, Jay Leno is moving back to 11:35 Pacific/Eastern. It is unclear yet what will happen to Conan, but fewer people seem to care whether he stays at NBC or goes, other than the penalties NBC will pay. However, this change will hurt some. I’m one of the folks that liked Jay Leno at 10pm. I get up in the morning at 4:45am, and thus go to bed at 10pm. Jay is the perfect program for falling asleep, for it is only the first half-hour that is usually interesting. Now I’ll rarely see him (as it was before).
- From the “What About The Side Effects?” Department: It looks like a push is on to strengthen airport security, and it will be done by the backscanner machines. However, these scanners appear to slightly raise the risk of cancer. If they are put into wide-spread use, there may be increased medical costs down the line for the cancer treatments… and (as it was with cigarettes and other carcingens), the person who creates the problem is the one who pays for the problem. So where do we draw the line between saving people now, and saving people down the road? It’s hard question.
- From the “End of Paragraph. Dot. Dot. Dot.” Department: We loves our computers, don’t we. We have love-hate relationships with our word processors. But do we think about who we hurt: the poor typewriter repair shop. Luckily, some are still hanging on for those few who need typewriters. So who does? Here’s an example: inmates who are barred from using a computer and the Internet; instead, they use a typewriter with a transparent case designed to prevent inmates from hiding contraband inside. By the way, I should note that the typewriter manufacturers are not going the same way as the buggywhip manufactuers: the NY Times makes that clear. They are going the way of carriage makers and carriage parts makers.
