Can you be replaced with technology ? Will a computer do your job some day ? So many seemingly secure jobs have disappeared in the last twenty years that I can’t count them all. In the early nineteenth century a buggy whip business was a sure thing – until Henry Ford came along. Photo development kiosks did well thirty years ago – until the computer and digital cameras became available and affordable to the average person. Even surgery is being done by computers now.
So, what jobs are still going to be here in the next twenty years?
My ninety year old neighbor and I were talking about this subject a few years ago and he said “we’ll still need a person to swing a hammer when we need our roof fixed”. I’ve thought about that many times since then. Will a computer swing a hammer – maybe, but will it get up on a roof and lay the shingles and pound the nails? There are air nailers now – but- they still need a person to operate them. I believe that there are many jobs that will never be eliminated by computers. This is, I believe the case with repairing of gravel surfaces.
As long as there are tires on vehicles, there will be deterioration of gravel surfaces. Asphalt and cement will crack and heave over time, and is extremely expensive to repair or replace. Gravel will always have a place in certain areas. I cannot envision a time when a human being will not be necessary to operate a machine to repair potholes. In my twenty-six years as a Gravel Doctor my customers have told me that they would never consider a substance other that gravel for their parking lots or roadways because the alternatives are too expensive.
With the Gravel Doctor machine the gravel can be recycled repetitively, because gravel doesn’t wear out. If the elevation needs to be increased to enhance drainage then more material can be added very simply and integrated with the existing material to perform the repair. This is the most cost effective approach to road and parking lot maintenance there is. I don’t see a computer usurping this task, just as I don’t see a computer replacing a plumber. Recycling makes sense. Anytime you can recycle and re-use something the cost diminishes. Gravel is one of the most recyclable materials there is. It doesn’t wear out – it just changes location. When that location change occurs potholes become evident and drainage is affected.
It just makes sense to recycle the gravel and re-use it because gravel doesn’t wear out – it just changes position. I don’t see a computer being able to address that needed service, so I believe there will be abundant business opportunities in this field for many years to come.