The 20th century was prime-time for the assembly line. There are countless famous examples including:
- Henry Ford cutting the time it took to produce a vehicle by 10x with his Highland Park assembly line
- McDonalds and Starbucks experimenting with thousands of layout variations in their stores to find the one optimal "path" for efficient production
- Toyota's lean production system and values of "constant improvement"
- Airlines all over the world focusing on minimizing turnaround time to boost profit
It's probably not a stretch to say there are trillions of dollars at stake in the race to be more efficient in the physical world, and everyone is working off a similar "best practices" playbook to limit waste, improve speed, and trim unnecessary steps from a system to earn more.
That's fine, but what about the digital world? What does a digital assembly line look like? What are the digital "best practices" for getting more work done, with fewer distractions or dead ends?
When I work (and I assume most people have similar work habits), I bounce around between all sorts of tabs on multiple devices all day long, and anyone observing me would have to conclude that I'm basically the exact opposite of efficient.
For all the value locked up in the digital world today, you'd think there would be some sort of "assembly line" or "efficiency" blueprint that was widely adopted, but I can't think of one off the top of my head.
Maybe this is a function of the way the digital world is structured, maybe it's just me, but maybe there are underappreciated rules, systems, or strategies that we could all be using to be more productive with our digital time.
There are plenty of processes and methodologies to improve efficiency and reduce waste in digital production!
LEAN, Agile, Scrum, Khanban are all widely adopted systems of streamlining production of software, content, media, etc.
sounds like a "you" problem
Everything in cyberspace is trying to steal your attention. You have to actively resist and put measures in place to "improve your workspace".
Computers are a bicycle for the mind. Part of the reason there is no standardized blueprint is everyone's mind works differently. But if you're feeling inefficient while harnessing your computer, you should try identifying the wasteful motions you make on a daily basis and look for ways to improve.
I appreciate the thoughtful response, I think you're getting at the core of my question here. I don't think anyone at Toyota is "actively resisting" chaos or distraction, their system keeps everything in check.
What are the ways one can improve their workspace to achieve similar levels of efficiency online?
Honestly, your first "efficiency action" should be to consult AI about these questions. It can provide personalized suggestions.
digital assembly lines:
gemmavennpmcargoThe best place to sabotage, just like in factories.
I don't know what any of those words mean
lmao
lol
Dependency managers for software development where you basically say "I want some software that does X" and then you call the package instead of implementing your own code for X.
I see, so sort of like the physical equivalent of getting someone else's factory to teleport into your own factory to provide a widget instead of making it yourself?
Yeah, like outsourcing / supply chain. Instead of manufacturing your own nuts and bolts, you buy 'em and assemble your product on the line where you mix in these with components you made yourself.
Never used Ansible, but it seems to be somewhat in this dimension, recipes for assembling a system.
NixOS takes it one step further through being more declarative/functional rather than imperative as I understand it.
Both of the above are text files describing the components of a system, described by humans and then fulfilled by the computer.
Though I think @kr may be looking for some kind of framing for the human in doing vaguely similar tasks. Ways of minimizing distraction. Feels like virtual desktops was trying to solve part of that problem, but I never use them.
We're still waiting for the industrial revolution to fully unfold in the digital world.. still wallowing about as romantic artisans.
Exactly
My first thought too, though it was
pip, thendockerthat came to mind for meOh!
Dockerfile- yes, good one! Despite it not always being useful to me (in those cases I write packer/terraformhclforlxc), it really is the nicest container building format out there.Not sure why I forgot about
pip- especially since withuvyou get a nice lockfile too nowadays.I'll offer a service right here. I see some people uploading AI produced subtitles for their videos. There are often mistakes that need a human to go through and check. I guess they don't because the cost is valued more than the quality.
There is Unit, which you may find interesting
view on www.youtube.comAssembly lines are for reproducible tangible products composed of tangible components, it's necessary.
In digital land you can copy the entire thing copy/paste. No assembly required.