This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to theechidna.com.au
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
First, they came for the cash and we weren't given a choice.
That little brown envelope with the week's earnings in crisp notes and a few coins was replaced by electronic fund transfer direct to a bank account. And for the privilege of warehousing our hard-earned, the banks charged us a fee.
This new arrangement also meant the most important thing in our wallets became the plastic card issued by the bank. With this we could withdraw our money easily from machines using a PIN - personal identification number - and, again, be charged a fee for the privilege.
Soon after came the EFTPOS - electronic point of sale - meaning we could buy goods or services using our card. Cash became an endangered species.
Then they came for the humans, those people with whom we dealt at the bank, the insurance company, the telephone company to pay our bills. We had to queue - and in the days before smoking was outlawed in public buildings, this could be awful, especially if the person in front of you was chuffing away on a pipeful of Dr Pat. But there was service at the end of it. A person who could process our payment or make changes to our accounts, even exchange some pleasantries.
Nowadays, we're encouraged to open online accounts, which means remembering an ever-growing list of passwords, and do the work of the company. All under the guise of self-service.
It's all extremely convenient. We can do our banking or manage our insurance from home or on the boss's clock when she isn't watching. No more queueing up at the bank or post office. Great until it isn't.
The worst-case downside is when the company or institution is hacked and our details are stolen, as we saw with Optus, Medibank or just recently Latitude Group and you have to devote all your energy to retrieving your stolen identity.
The more mundane annoyance comes when we forget a password or our email changes and we have to telephone for assistance. Precious time is wasted listening to an eternity of insufferable hold music designed to tip the calmest person into blind rage. In a sadistic twist, this is interspersed with infuriating recorded messages telling you how important your call is and how much easier it is to do it all online.
The humans are being removed from shops and supermarkets too, with those annoying self-service machines asking us again to do the work of the cashiers they've replaced. Invariably, something goes wrong and the wretched thing needs human intervention to be reset. There's nothing convenient about them, unless you're a company doing your utmost to maximise profit.
Not even romance is these days spared the cold, calculating eye of the machine.
Where once we gathered in pubs, parties and parks to meet other people and, if lucky, pursue romantic dreams with people we'd encounter in person, these days there are apps for that. From the convenience of home, you can browse dating apps for possible romantic partners and arrange to meet if someone takes your fancy. It's as easy as swiping. Trouble is, these apps are not particularly safe.
That's why they've caught the attention of Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. She's asked the top 10 dating apps about the harms occurring as a result of the "services" they offer and the safety procedures they have in place to minimise them. She wants details of harms reported - including abuse and sexual harassment and referrals to the police - as the government considers tightening the regulation around dating apps.
Earlier this year eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant warned of the dangers using the apps, especially for women and gender diverse people.
"Through our own complaints schemes, we have certainly seen this borne out in how dating sites can be weaponised by offenders," the commissioner said at the time. Sexual extortion was one of her major concerns.
The dating apps have tightened their own safety procedures since these concerns were raised but the truly sad fact remains that more than three million Australians who use them feel finding love via the smartphone is somehow better than going out and meeting people. That an algorithm is better at finding a match than good, old-fashioned socialising, conversation, eye contact and instinct.
You know, humans being humans.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you get frustrated by self-service checkouts? Are machines robbing us of human contact? Have you ever used a dating app? Would you? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The Greens and Labor have reached a deal over the proposed safeguard mechanism revamp, but the party's leader, Adam Bandt, has heavily criticised the Albanese government over its climate credentials. The bill is designed to give big polluters an incentive to cut their emissions by 4.9 per cent a year by 2030.
- Renewed market jitters about the stability of the financial system are likely to weigh on the Reserve Bank of Australia as it ponders an interest rate pause in April. Shares in Deutsche Bank plunged 8.5 per cent on the weekend as investors dumped the stock amid ongoing concerns about the fallout from rising interest rates and a string of bank failures and bailouts in the US and Europe.
- Consumer finance company Latitude Group has announced 14 million Australian and New Zealand customers had records stolen from its systems in the hack detected about a fortnight ago. About 7.9 million people had their drivers licence details taken, with 3.2 million, or 40 per cent of those numbers, provided to the company in the last 10 years.
THEY SAID IT: "We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together." Vincent Nichols
YOU SAID IT: Religious militants, transgender politics and the possibility the Kremlin is fomenting outrage.
Tony says: "As a churchgoer, I wish the Christian extremists would focus more on the words of James 1:27 - 'Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you' rather than stoking fears about trans people. I wouldn't be surprised if the the Kremlin is using those groups for their own agenda. Have you heard of the book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation?" No, I haven't but will check it out.
"Want a clear picture of the utter nonsenses of religious beliefs?" asks Trevor from Thirlmere. "Have a read of this one from The Economist: 'What's the time in Lebanon? That depends on whether you follow the government's decision to delay daylight saving until April 20th - in an apparent effort to please the Muslim majority, who can break their daily Ramadan fast an hour earlier - or the influential Maronite church, who as usual swapped to summer time early on Sunday. Confusion has ensued: Christian organisations, parties and schools, as well as some news channels, are running an hour ahead of their Muslim counterparts.' Pure idiocy, and I'll bet that everyone reading this can think of many others."
Ken says: "Your mother was non-binary. Generous enough to live, it appears, in that grey area where one listened to a wide scope of views and loved a good discussion, respecting another's right to have a considered point of view. I was handing out how-to-votes in my small country town on Saturday and all of us got on well together on the day, whatever our political colour, without a divisive argument at any point. We were kind to each other. Yes I have held placards and fought for a particular position. But I was never very good at being 'black' or 'white', and found it most comfortable if I understood the reasoning of those whose viewpoint I was questioning. Questioning can be done in a kindly manner. Categorical opposition can easily become confrontational. We seem to be drifting into a binary world of viewpoints. It's a paradox, is it not, when we are taking a position about acceptance of non-binary gender?"
"After the worldwide murderous militant acts of one specific ideological/religious organisation," says Bob, "I'm surprised that there hasn't been an escalation of similar acts by right wing militant Christian organisations. Only a couple of unrelated individual actions so far. One in Scandinavia and one in NZ. What an accommodating lot we are."
"How many gender variations are there now?" asks Brent. "The latest figure I came across was 72 and counting presumably. Do you favour giving large transgenders access to female change rooms, in with your female family members? Look, discrimination is really just another word for making choices and deciding just where you sit. Whereabouts in the gender spectrum do you sit? [I'm a bloke, Brent.] I'm firmly, unrestrictedly and unashamedly, MALE. Oh, horror of horror, swoon."
Dominique from Baton Rouge says: "Your mother may have had the insight that the recent wave of politicians and judges restricting women's health care (so far in the United States) are the counterpart of the Taliban politicians ordering all women to wear the burka. Australia beware..."
"I am so over any militant group telling me what to think," says Sue. "These groups are so self-righteous and make me feel like a naive rabbit hiding in my burrow until they go away. Perhaps these groups have become louder because of social media but they display a side of human nature that has always been there. Terrifying! I'm digging an extra room in the burrow ... it may be too scary to venture outside soon!! Thanks again for thought provoking reading."
Old Donald says: "My comment? The mind bubbles over, but I will stick with Wilde to Whistler: 'I wish I'd said that.' And, of course, the famous reply: 'You will, Oscar, you will.' But I do, John, and I will."
Linda has kind words: "Just want to say I usually wholeheartedly agree with the views expressed by you and Garry in Echidna. You both write in very engaging ways, and your personal experiences and backgrounds make really interesting reading. Also love Fiona's apt cartoons. Thank you and best wishes to you all at Echidna."