[PLUG-TALK] Driving Around Google in the Dalles

[glen e. p. ropella]

Michael wrote:
> A google data center doesn't need much in the way of people.

I'm not sure I believe that.  I understand that a data center doesn't 
require many people, or many man-hours.  But, it strikes me that a) the 
fewer people needed, the more important each individual person is and b) 
the higher the ratio of machines:people, the more people are on the 
critical path for the business' objectives.

So, the perversion we've seen is an attempt by google to take advantage 
of cheap logistics surrounding one malthusian resource while sacrificing 
the logistics of another (i.e. the quality of the people needed to 
manage that resource _or_ relying on the increased mobility of some 
satisficing level of shipped labor).  Internalize profits.  Externalize 
costs.

Assuming the situation stays the same for a long enough time, this will 
disenfranchise the people doing the work, thereby reducing the care and 
quality they can achieve.  And that will mean google will have to adjust 
by shipping in labor from further away, preserving high interest levels 
with high turnover, somehow build up the quality they can achieve 
locally by building up the people's interest in their work, etc.  Costs 
will eventually even out.  If google has made a smart move, they will 
make a large enough short-term profit to outweigh the long-term costs 
that will eventually catch up.  Or they'll just abandon the location 
when those infrastructure costs begin to outweigh the benefits, as was 
done by the Aluminum industry (accepting Paul's explanation).

Of course, these are all very minor, especially compared to the really 
perverted stuff many of our companies engage in.  It's a minor 
perversion... akin to, say, drinking too much alcohol on a Friday night. 
[grin]  But, it's still a perversion because businesses consist of 
people, regardless of the power, weight, or bandwidth of the assets 
those people manipulate.

p.s. It may be odd to think of a janitor wielding so much power.  But 
the finer the granularity and specificity of a machine, the more 
important the cleanliness and efficiency of that machine.  Janitors, 
data entry clerks, etc. may seem like replaceable cogs; but they're not 
... not in a healthy business anyway.  We'll see that more and more as 
we fill our earth with garbage.

-- 
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com