[wighty]

I'm just watching  about making Cherry Bakewell Tarts in a factory (couldn't find anything else as have seen it before).   Most of the 'factory' programmes I've seen show they rely on computers to weigh out the ingredients and judge cooking and cooling times.  I was wondering, what would happen if we had an 'outage' (I think it's called when computers fail). Could the workers still     produce those products or would we then have a shortage?  The computers all failed at the Co-op here on the Island earlier this week and they couldn't take anything but cash payments which threw so many people.

[JayG]

The pharmacy I use (a branch of a national chain) certainly is 100% dependent on computers - last week I went to collect my routine repeat prescription to be told they were unable to process any prescriptions because their internet was down, and had been for 6 days! 

I had to ring the surgery to ask them to print out a 'prescription token', which I picked up and took triumphantly to the pharmacy, which is in the same building.
Guess what? Tokens can only be processed via the internet too!   

Finished up having to make yet another detour to another pharmacy altogether to get my precious bits and pieces. 

I'm not surprised that many services and industries can't function without computers, but I am surprised that a national chain of pharmacies doesn't have a Service Level Agreement which gets them up and running in less than a week (assuming they are actually back in business now.  )

[wighty]

I was talking to someone in the shop today about this and they said they had been to Morrisons recently , done their weekly shop and when they got to the till were told they couldn't scan so had no idea what the shopping would cost.  'How much is your usual  shop' was the question asked and that was what they were charged.  I think I would have said 'just a minute' and gone back round the shop and really stocked up and then come back and said  '50 quid' because the amount they said was what they charged you!!

[CHRISDONOHUE]

The examples quoted above are but the tip of the iceberg.   Where you have a combination of inaccurate programs and incompetent managers who lack integrity as in the Post Office debacle, then lives, livelihoods and liberties are at stake.    It is a cause of national shame that it is unlikely that justice will ever be done because of the vested interests involved.

[mrs bouquet]

I think the problem is sometimes with the operators and people either directly or indirectly involved.  What a good way to cover error than say the computer is broken down.   Like mobile phones when asked a difficult question like "where are you and who are you with",    answer, oh, you are breaking up.  sorry I have lost ...      Sorry I am such a cynic that I seldom believe any of it, just excuses i.m.o.    Mrs Bouquet

[al78]

Simple systems work best in adverse conditions, but that is not a reason to go back to simple systems, since they are far less good in normal conditions which is the vast majority of the time.

People have made themselves dependant on cars and/or trains for transport by choosing jobs and homes 50 miles apart, then get all disrupted when heavy snow disrupts the roads and railway and have to have a day or three off. The cynical might claim they are using that as a convenient excuse to take extra leave in addition to their annual leave, but I doubt many people would advocate going back to living within walking distance of your place of work, on the basis that walking is a far more robust mode of transport in adverse conditions.