The Screw: A Story About Technology

Posted by Machobubba on 2013/5/13 21:57:28

Sometimes it’s just an error to judge the value of an activity simply by the time consumed in doing it…. A good example is the case of an engineer called in to fix an enormous and extremely complicated computer…. A computer worth 12 million dollars. Sitting in front of the screen, he pressed a few keys, made a few positive facial expressions, mumbled something to himself and switched the computer off.

He then took a small screwdriver from his pocket and tightened a tiny screw in a clockwise sense. Then he switched the computer on again to find that it was working perfectly. The president of the company was delighted with his well done job and wanted to pay him instantly. - “Can I pay you now?” he asked - “Yes, it’s 1000 dollars, please."

“1000 DOLLARS? ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS for just a few moments of work? 1000 dollars for just tightening a tiny weeny screw? I know my computer is worth 12 million dollars, but 1000 dollars is way to expensive! “ I will only pay you if you send me a perfectly itemized invoice to justify the amount you are demanding from me.” The engineer accepted and left the premises. - The next morning, the president received the invoice, he carefully read it, shaked his head and proceeded to pay the invoice at once. The invoice said:

Detail of services: Tightening of screw........... .... .... .... .... ... 1 dollar Knowing which screw to tighten........... ..... 999 dollars

REMEMBER: “YOU GET PAID FOR WHAT YOU KNOW, NOT FOR WHAT YOU DO”.