To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Observercast

When Only A Human Will Do

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BY FROMA HARROP As computers continue to replace cashiers, ticket vendors and bank tellers, consumers increasingly don’t notice or care much whether they are dealing with a human or a machine. The big exception is when they do. Consumers often prefer the convenience of interacting with computers. A checkout employee who doesn’t know the price of Gala apples adds grit to the smooth functioning of an over-scheduled day. But when things go wrong at the […]

Froma Harrop
Froma Harrop
Harrop is an American writer and author. She is best known for her bi-weekly syndicated column which appears in about 200 news outlets including the Seattle Times, Newsday, Denver Post, Dallas Morning News, Arizona Republic, Detroit News, and Real Clear Politics and The Providence Journal. She is represented by Creators Syndicate Inc. in Los Angeles. Media Matters ranks her column 20th nationally in total readership and 14th in large newspaper concentration.