Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Cruel boy errors

From train booking systems to customer support, the opportunities are endless

issue 22 October 2016

Perhaps you are slightly concerned about your son. At present he is sitting in the crawlspace beneath your home wearing a clown costume, gleefully pulling the legs from crane flies and waiting for the cover of darkness so he can set light to your neighbours’ sheds.

Well, no need to worry.

You see, 50 years ago the only possible future for people like this lay in becoming a serial killer or, failing that, joining the secret police in a brutal dictatorship. But now, thanks to the wonders of technology, there are almost limitless openings for people of a sadistic disposition.

To date the most prized job for the aspiring young sociopath has been designing the user interface for the ticket machines at railway stations. First, someone had to make sure the touch screens were so flaky that at any one time eight letters on the keyboard don’t work*.

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