Hi folks,<br><br>I've been lurking and frankly, do a poor job of it. There's simply too much on the list to take in! So I read a bit here and there and read some on the mechancial turk phenomenon, and the MySpace layoffs.<br>
<br>Of interest in today's New York Times is a story on "freelancing" (a misnomer if I ever heard one, but that's another post). The angle of the article is that more small businesses are signing up for "high-end" services such as Web design, precisely because they can now afford it through Web-enabled freelancing sites such as oDesk. <br>
<br>Buried well near the end of the story, oDesk actually takes a snapshots of a "freelancer's" workstation for the "client" 6 times a day.<br><br><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/business/smallbusiness/25freelance.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/business/smallbusiness/25freelance.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business</a><br>
<br>I'm reminded of Marglin's famous article, "What do bosses do?" His answer: they control. Are Web-enabled "freelancing" sites the new "factory system"?<br><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>
~~~~~<br>Sam Ladner, PhD<br>Sociologist <br>Toronto<br>