The shift to tablets over paper manuals hit me yesterday.

Was watching a new kid on a road crew trying to fix a hiccup on a roller. He just stood there tapping a screen, looking lost. Made me realize we used to just know the machine, feel the problem. Now it's all waiting for a diagram to load.

3 comments

3 Comments

richardsullivan2d ago

I tried using one of those tablet work orders last year and spent ten minutes trying to zoom in on a grease stain some guy left as a note. Sometimes I miss when a coffee spill on the paper was the biggest tech problem you had. Now if the battery dies you're just standing there like an idiot holding a fancy brick. Gives me a new respect for the old guys who could fix anything with a wrench and a guess.

the_eva2d ago

Feel that so hard. Watched a guy last week fight with a dead tablet while his machine just sat there cooling down. Miss when a coffee ring was the worst thing on your work order lol.

evanjohnson16h ago

Last week at my warehouse, I spent fifteen minutes trying to reboot a tablet just to log a simple pick list. @the_eva, your story about the dead tablet hit home because I probably looked just as silly staring at a blank screen. Now I keep a spare charger in my pocket like some kind of tech boy scout, but half the time I forget to plug it in myself. The old timers must get a good laugh watching us fumble with these things.