Modern "Conveniences" ... Man-Power versus Machine-Power

A friend recently shared blog post about a completely unnecessary machine, the automatic butter spreader, which I feel perfectly typifies one of the starkest differences between India and the United States. Americans automate almost without thinking about it ... the author even goes on the speculate other ways in which the same machine could facilitate the cooking process at home. Ultimately, she decides that it might not be worth the investment for home use --- but there it is again, Americans would be willing to put up the up-front cost of a machine to automate work that could surely be done by hand...

This is a pretty silly, extreme example with the automatic butter spreader ... but I've noticed a lack of automation ... or rather a lack of consistent tools, where instead human labor and ingenuity is used (see Allen's previous examples with the workmen) ... For example:

You see ladders like this being transported around town all the time...
...seems more dangerous than it is worth though

Skyscrapers need building? Why not use bamboo and rope scaffolding? What?

We'll try to think (and find pictures of) more good examples for you ... Allen remembers the time he saw a guy climbing up an electrical pole just using rope, while his buddies were holding him up below - but sadly we don't have any documentation of that death-defying feat ... maybe in the next post.