Our Coffee Shop forum readers may perhaps have noted that I occasionally refer to myself as a Luddite. 

To put this into perspective, and give you some history, here is some background information:


I'm not actually an intentional 'machine breaker': it just seems to happen, whenever I'm involved.  Throughout my career, working in various offices, we had a dedicated IT department who dealt with any computer issues - so I never had to understand them.

That's why I salute grahame - both here and 'behind the scenes' for all the work he does in fixing things (some of them mine) which have gone wrong.

CfN 

 
Chris, we love you just the way you are ... and [we/I] love all members here provide [they/you] are well intentioned with us and thoughtful. Simples.  I appreciate - and the rest of the team does - these qualities and past that anything goes, each to our own knowledge and comfort level and in our own niches - gawd this is getting deep.

I made a career of sorting out IT and IT issues and helping people write and use systems in an easy and efficient way that leaves the ultimate structure and data as a stepping stone for the future. Each to their own - and the absolute binary, 1s and 0s - of the systems behind mellow into how each of us interacts with the tools, data to hand, and each other. As, in many ways, the conductor of the orchestra or the stock room operative who keeps the supplies rolling for our baristas, I watch how those supplies are used, which are easy to digest, which give people issues and which don't sell.  Which cups easily spill, which elements people tire of or would wish to be just that bit different to make them a lot better.

It is so good to look out from the back room as see the place running smoothly - a cuddle of people sitting around discussion railcard conditions, a group chatting about staff levels, and others looking to identify people or places in old or not-so-old photos. There will be little irritants as someone overlooks the need to provide the hooks others need to answer, or someone throws a bucket of gloom over one of the table, perhaps with the odd sharp word or by harping on (and on, and on, and on) about something.   Thank you, Gentlemen (for you mostly are, both physically and in temprement) for helping make this such a happy place. You and I - all of us - have our quirks.  One of mine is mis-spelling and writing less than clearly, and another can be saying too much and not letting things go. I have to be especially careful as I'm seen as the one who should be setting the examples, but then a long post may be "too long" to some and "too short" to others, and "too critical" to some while "appeasing" to others.

I am delighted where members jump in on a brief post to expand and clarify it, I'm delighted where the moderators and admins use the rather dangerous tools we have at our disposal to tidy up - even if on rare occasions that results in a need for a bit of a tidy up; it makes for a far better forum going forward.

It's Saturday night and the Coffee Shop serves on smoothly (there are things in place to stop the gulls coming in and grabbing your croissants, and to stop the loos backing up, or someone nicking your account).  At one table, there's a discussion of driver allocation and shifts, at another the structure of the roof in Newcastle which is rather contradicted at another where the suggestion is that all towns look the same.  I'm headed off for some sleep to be around again for my more usual breakfast shift secure in the knowledge that this place is in good and friendly hands - yours.  Thank you.

 
Thank you Graham, and CfN and the others who do their bit to keep the wheels on the rails.

A thought sometimes recurs (not in a Coffee Shop context). Many years ago, in computing history terms, it was said that a computer system should operate for the benefit of the organisation. If the organisation is run for the benefit of the computer system it is probably a recipe for business failure. I look around now and sometimes wonder if this still applies.

 
The actions of those breaking frames in Nottingham led to the establishment of lace factories at Tiverton and Chard.
Heathcoat left Loughborough in 1816 and moved to Tiverton with his workforce. The Chard lace started as an offshoot of this. Tiverton is still going as is one mill near Chard Junction.

 

I would see it wider these days - it needs to [also] operate for the benefit of the users. In older days, the computer system was operated by the paid and trained staff of the business / organisation. These days, we have turned the input and output devices around to face Joe/Jo Public and it must work for and benefit him/her as well.

For the Coffee Shop (and I WILL add that context) it works well - very well - for a segment of users who indeed are here. Never perfect even for [them/you] and I'm always looking to tune for better use for now and for the future.  Where we miss out are the users who are put off by all sorts of things, including (but not limited to) http v https,  awkwardness on a small screen, lack of obvious cookie and GDPR conformity (we are in the rules but not obvious, and limited what we can add), old-fashioned looks.  There are some tricky things to fix to add another segment of users, and as we do so we also need to take care that our comfortable little forum retains its attraction and relevance for existing users.

 

Wise words, Sid

Slightly at a tangent (and therefore in the best(?) tradition of this forum), but in the spirit of this thread, this reminded me of something I heard recently on Radio 4 in the context of investment in IT in the NHS. Someone from one of the health service think tanks (I think it might have been the King's Fund) when talking about the priorities the government should pursue in health spending harrumphed "They are even still sending out appointments by post!"

What a foolish thing to say, I thought. Royal Mail is subject to the universal service obligation, to deliver to all households in the UK. No-one is obliged to have a phone, landline or mobile, an email address, subscribe to or read social media. Some of those most in need of receiving such as the elderly are the most likely not to have or use such media and services. Heaven help them if our policy wonk friend has a say in future NHS communications.

 

It's just really great to see you back posting on a very regular basis, Chris.  I for one certainly missed your input when you were much less visible for a time.

 
Ooh, err, blush. 

Thank you.