EDITOR – When South Africa adopted computers, we were told they will be faster than humans and can never make a mistake.
I would like to know if most people on the public side of service providers can vouch for this or are there many people who noticed, like me, that where computers are used to serve the public, simple requests take much longer than they were handled in the days before computers. Or, has my memory of the days of manual work faded, or did we, I had more patience in the days our requests were carried out manually and efficiently?
How many times did you hear the attendant say, “The computer is slow today?” I always try to keep my mouth from: “Always?” In places like banks the queues are long, sometimes moving fast, sometimes slow due to a ‘slow’ computer and the attendant printing out so many pages. For what? Again and again. Before computers the one or two documents are filled out manually and signed. Finished.
Do these computers constantly need servicing? Is it servicing affordable? Maybe not. About their accuracy – listen to this – the pits. In one of our local libraries, the computer indicated that I still have four books outstanding three of which were found on the shelves by the staff on two different days. What does that tell you about the accuracy of the computer? I still have one book outstanding. Now the computer keeps on telling the staff I still have one book outstanding. I know I had returned it at the end of the fourth term last year. Do you think a judge will believe the computer or me?
Now the staff want to block my card and membership till that book appears “like the other three”, even after the staff saw that their computer was wrong three times. Can you see why I hate computers?
Twice I timed being helped by an attendant after my patient wait in a queue. With the help of computers, it took 30 minutes each time, once just for a simple transaction of collecting a new bank card after theft (reference number of reporting, time and I.D was given) and once simply for getting a new beneficiary linked to my account. Again many pages were generated by the computers. Having worked at Mondi Paper company it stresses me to see how much paper gets wasted. The friendliness of these two attendants calmed my stress and kept my mouth shut. Would the public agree that these type of transactions were done quicker before computer? They say all banks are like this. It won’t help to change banks.
Gofy*
Escombe
