I enjoy reminders that people have been thinking about the consequences of computing technology for a long while:

"If we do it all wrong, then it could be an absolute disaster. It's the biggest aid to totalitarianism you could ever come across if you think about it, and that must be avoided at all costs. On the other hand it's the greatest boon to decentralization and people fulfilling themselves and that is the sort of way we've got to go. But it's up to us."

https://youtu.be/b6URa-PTqfA?t=619

@cstanhope That passage struck me too when I saw it a couple of days ago.

I've searched to see if Cy Endfield had commented on that elsewhere but I can't find any trace. It seems incongruous in the BBC piece as a whole.

There's a number of others who've written cautions. Paul Baran's work at RAND in particular comes to mind. I've highlighted a few of his essays here, along with other authors:

https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/105074933053020193

@cstanhope And at this writing, Google is still only turning up my own HN comment based on a search for the phrase:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22If%20we%20do%20it%20all%20wrong%2C%20then%20it%20could%20be%20an%20absolute%20disaster.%20It%27s%20the%20biggest%20aid%20to%20totalitarianism%22

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31803759#31807185

@dredmorbius Are you sure that's Cy Endfield? The person I quoted at the end appears earlier in the segment without introduction, and then they do introduce Cy Endfield after that. It's a side view, so it's hard to tell, but he doesn't look like the same person. Cy Endfield looks a little older and he doesn't have that mole on his right cheek. The hair styles are very similar, but Endfield's looks a little longer in the front.

"That's Barrie Sherman - he was Research Director of a union called Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs. He was keen to promote the use of automation in order for Britain to stay competitive but also had concerns about how people's jobs would change to their advantage."

(according to YT comment)

@cstanhope @dredmorbius

@EdS Hrm ...

I'm not finding that YT comment, FWIW.

On ASTMS, Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Scientific,_Technical_and_Managerial_Staffs

https://www.liquisearch.com/association_of_scientific_technical_and_managerial_staffs

Clive Jenkins was its general secretary.

"Barrie Sherman" seems to have left very little trace.

@cstanhope