..the name of the computer that ran the operations of the space ship in the movie "2001: A Space Odessy". I have been thinking of Hal a lot recently, since a computer has begun to generate the schedules of all the associates at my work place. The actual designation for the system is Oasis. I am sure it is an acronym, but don't know what it really represents. I've decided to call it Hal, but have to explain the backstory to everyone who gives me a strange look.
I honestly don't recall much about the movie. I thought it was about twenty years old, but when I went to - you guessed it: google! - I found that it came out in 1968. Meaning I have apparently misplaced about twenty years...
It was a big deal when it was first released and has been on late night TV over time. The thing I remembered best (and might possibly not be all that accurate in my remembering) was that at the end of the movie, the last thing you saw was the great void of space, tiny pinpricks of distant suns glowing in the screen. And the astronauts drifting off into oblivion as a result of Hal taking over the mother ship and deciding that humans were no longer essential.
Does that give you an idea of what I am thinking about the Oasis scheduling system we are being shoe-horned into? Not only does it determine who works when, it tells you what time you are scheduled for taking a lunch break. From what I understand the computer has a wealth of information to base the needs on. Including years of sales records, weather records, customer count, day of the week, items in weekly ad., a mountain of trivia all compiled to determine how many cashiers are needed at any given time. How many baggers and stock-guys are needed and the hours they will be expected to be in greatest demand.
I am trying very hard to reserve judgment, but I will am currently leaning towards the possibility of not being a happy camper. Which does not sit well at all with our corporate philosophy, so I will put on my game face and go ahead and cowboy up.
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