tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post6084699600716496259..comments2024-03-27T21:23:40.339-04:00Comments on Chemjobber: Are scientists more like journalists than we care to admit? Chemjobberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-10207426589861679422013-08-14T16:03:07.057-04:002013-08-14T16:03:07.057-04:00This one? http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012...This one? http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=1<br /><br />Yes, life as an Amazon picker pretty much sucks. Chemjobberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-25437477944492065632013-08-14T15:13:49.374-04:002013-08-14T15:13:49.374-04:00"1) Eating someone else's seed corn is al..."1) Eating someone else's seed corn is always profitable."<br /><br />Not if they're bigger than you and take it back, and then some.<br /><br />2) Not certain to what you refer, but certainly AMZN has great products (its supply/delivery capabilities, above the products it sells).<br /><br />3) "The "you're commie pinko liberal fascists for actually wanting to get paid rather than our bankers" line only works so long"<br /><br />Nice idea, but the only way that's going to fundamentally change is if US society radically changes. While this may well be for the best overall, good luck with it happening in your or your grandkids lifetimes. Even in comparaitvely socialist places like Canada, bankers still make a lot more than Johnny Six Pack of Labatt'sbiotechtoreadornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-9777971596500622412013-08-14T14:38:46.664-04:002013-08-14T14:38:46.664-04:00" There was a time when even shareholders wer..." There was a time when even shareholders were tolerating waste and giving companies the time they needed to come up with innovative technologies and discoveries"<br /><br />I don't agree that there was ever a time when shareholders tolerated waste. Do you have an example? I do agree that Wall St.'s timeframe has become, perhaps, too short-sighted. Unfortunately, "shareholders" is not some ethereal concept like the 'they' in 'they say': shareholders are anyone who has a 401k, a pension, or an IRA. Like democracy in which the electorate gets the government it serves, so too do investors get the corporations they deserve.<br /><br />Giving "people time and space and money, in the certain knowledge that most of that time and space and money will end up being wasted, and embracing that waste as a good and ultimately necessary thing." sounds like a fun job but, as the example of newspapers shows, it's not a way to run a business.biotechtoreadornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-23051078358323288902013-08-14T14:34:18.852-04:002013-08-14T14:34:18.852-04:00I remember reading an article by a journalist who ...I remember reading an article by a journalist who took a job in an amazon warehouse. Didn't seem fun at all.<br /><br />You can also argue that scientists are more like amazon warehouse workers than we care to admit. You have the few privileged bosses (PI in academia or boss in industry) with many scientists working hard for not much pay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-65223121618323582672013-08-14T14:25:39.906-04:002013-08-14T14:25:39.906-04:00It's a question of how much. There was a time ...It's a question of how much. There was a time when even shareholders were tolerating waste and giving companies the time they needed to come up with innovative technologies and discoveries. What we are seeing right now is a serious lack of delayed gratification among and an obsession with short-termism. It's the enduring tale of the goose and the golden eggs; today's shareholders want all the eggs in the next quarter, blissfully unaware or oblivious that they're killing the goose forever in the process.Wavefunctionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14993805391653267639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-90531582339167106772013-08-14T14:08:54.231-04:002013-08-14T14:08:54.231-04:00"The problem, of course, is that shareholders..."The problem, of course, is that shareholders (and their Wall Street advisors) may not be willing to live with that level of waste, especially when profits and revenues trend downward."<br /><br />1) Eating someone else's seed corn is always profitable.<br /><br />2) Having products is generally a requirement for making money - if you are unwilling to invest in products, you either shouldn't be in the business, are [insert deity here] and so have no need of money, or are hoping to loot and run. Which fits current business models most accurately?<br /><br />3) I would have thought that sooner or later, the lots of people who have no chance at doing anything fulfilling or useful, much less attaining the American Dream, might have something to say as to whether Bezos's model (and many other people's) is sustainable. The "you're commie pinko liberal fascists for actually wanting to get paid rather than our bankers" line only works so long - "rabbits have teeth, and sometimes the rabbits get lucky." And when there are lots of rabbits and few others, well...Hapnoreply@blogger.com