The Central Social Institution in Prague was home to the world’s largest vertical file cabinet. It consists of 3,000 drawers, 10 feet high, reaching from floor to ceiling and covering approximately 4,000 square feet. The drawers are all equipped with roller bearings.
Special desks were built for those working at the files. They are, in essence, electrically operated elevators, controlled by a touch of a button, which rise or descend, move to the right or left and stop before the desired drawer.
The drawers themselves are electrically opened and shut. With this installation it is now possible for 20 workers to do what formerly required the services of 400.
There are many jobs in which distribution of the work only results in confusion. In this case, eliminating help expedites progress.
These amazing photographs below show men working in mobile work stations used to access the card catalog drawers in the Central Social Institution, Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in 1937.
Special desks were built for those working at the files. They are, in essence, electrically operated elevators, controlled by a touch of a button, which rise or descend, move to the right or left and stop before the desired drawer.
The drawers themselves are electrically opened and shut. With this installation it is now possible for 20 workers to do what formerly required the services of 400.
There are many jobs in which distribution of the work only results in confusion. In this case, eliminating help expedites progress.
These amazing photographs below show men working in mobile work stations used to access the card catalog drawers in the Central Social Institution, Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in 1937.
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In my fantasy, I imagine Kafka gliding around in one of those desks, contemplating the modern condition of man as he does his actuarial work. I know the timing is wrong, but still...
ReplyDeleteNot Kafka, Phillip J. Fry.
ReplyDelete