The devil is in the details… I was at the airport picking my parents up for a visit. I guess it’s been a long time since I sat and watched a plane come in. Or maybe I’ve been overlooking the small things too. As the plane taxis into the gate, it stops well short of it and waits for a person in a reflector vest to show up waiving two orange wands. Based on this person’s guidance, the pilot brings the plane in the remainder of the way to the gate. This process delays the conclusion of the flight and adds labor cost.
This time it instantly occurred to me how peculiar this is. This seventy five million dollar plane has enough technology to fly itself from the east coast to Denver, but it lacks the technology to navigate accurately into a parking spot. Technology commonly found in average cars. I can back my truck up to a trailer with precision accuracy and no one guiding me.
The significance of this observation is merely this – as we advance our profession and practices technologically via robotics, artificial intelligence, etc. let’s not overlook the little things.