12 MAY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE
MONDAY 1 0thFEBRUARYwasamomentousdayforaselectgroup
of residents in the East London town where Ireside: the first dayof
the hotly anticipated wheelie bin trial. The dayarrived after several
weeks of debateonour Facebook community hub.Many residents
had complained about these bins spoiling the look of the place,and
also took issuewith Redbridge Council’s reasons forswitching to
this new form of rubbish collection, suspecting there was more to
it than cutting down on plastic wasteand keeping streets tidier.
Iwas one of the chosen fewtobeselected forthis trial, and
happened to catch the first rubbish collection in action from my
window,and it was apretty exasperating process to witness.
First off,the wheelie bin has to be placed in the exact right spot
at the back of the lorry forthe robot arm to be able to grab it, and
What chance do therobotshaveoftakingoveriftheycan’t even emptythe bins
properly?And what chance do anyofushaveofprivacyinanAmericanloo?
RANTS&RAVESS & S
ftentherobotarmfailstomoveanywayandhasto
bemanuallyoperated.Whentherobotarmpicksup
thebin,itispainfullyslowtodoitsemptyingjob.It
alsodoesn’temptyalltherubbishonalloccasions,
eadingtoaBennyHill-likechasebetweenabinman
risitrubbishperson?)andaflurryofloosepapers
nthestreet.Pickingupasheetofpaperwhilewearing
potectiveglovesisnigh-onimpossible,itseems.
Thereareactuallytworobotarmsatthebackofthelorry,
whichIsupposetheoreticallyshouldoperateatthesametime.
But in this case,the guys stood around and waited forthe leftarm
to finish before loading up the right one.Perhaps this will change
over time,asthe bin men get more familiar with the machinery.
Ihaven’t done any specific testing foraccurateresults, but I’d
estimatethat foreachbin emptied by therobot, three could easily
be done by thebin man,who is still required to collect, perfectly
place and return each wheelie bin to its home.
Ironically,Iwaswatching this performance on the back of
editing our article on robots (page 106). Based on what Isaw,
we’re along, long wayoffhavingtoworry about being replaced
by the machines any time soon.
FIRST, ACAVEAT:Iappreciatedigital snooping and breaches that
spill masses of personal data on the internet are bad news. But too
many people get fartoo paranoid about their digital privacy.
Forawhile now,I’ve heard conversations that go along the lines
of ‘ohFacebook is watching me’or‘Google spies on me’. Both
companies do collect data, but theythen serve up relevant adverts
rather than findout what you did last summer.
Yetpeople seem to take great exception to adverts based on
their browsing habits and product purchases being shown to them.
And often these are also the same folkswho spill all their thoughts,
feelings, intimateissues and what their last meal was on social media.
I’ve seen people spout reams of text about dead animals or
indeed parents accompanied by some form of supposedly
motivational quoteover the stock image of asunset, rather
than embrace more traditional decorum. Yetthese same people
refuse to use asmart speaker in case it overhears their
onversationsaboutthelatestepisodeofZList
Strictly CelebrityIslandDineWithMeOnIce.
Given there’s now aTVshow where people spout
about their intimatesexual health issues on camera,
t’s odd there’s such aconcern that third-party online
ompanies want browsing data so theycan better
get advertising. I’d much rather have adverts that tout
cketstomethan have to pay10p per Google search.
Until such companies start using my data to grass me up to the
NHS fordrinking more than the recommended alcohol intake,I’m
happytrading my data forthe ability to search the greatest source of
information in the world without parting with my hard-earned cash.
Really,it’s privacy in the physical world I’m worried about.
Thanks to smartphones, anyone can capture you on camera
making afool of yourself.And try and enjoyaneconomy class flight
without being nudged by theperson beside you, or in my lankycase,
being walloped by thetrolleyeach time the cabin crew push it by.
But by farthe most heinous breach of privacy no-one seems to
be addressing are public toiletsinthe USA. There’s usually ahuge
gap between the door and its frame,bothonthe bottom and the
sides, meaning that it’s not hard to make contact with apasser-by
when you are enjoying one of life’s least-acknowledged pleasures.
I’d happily give Mark Zuckerberg aslew of privatedata if he could
use his influence to fix the ‘restrooms’ of ourAmerican cousins.
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