Modern Life #1 – Finding a Flat

How information technology has reduced productivity by the empowerment of bureaucratic and regulatory “busy-bodies”.

Example number 1: 50 years of finding a flat.

1976

Process Chain

1. Walk about, try to find real estate agent through fog of beer.
2. Visit a few places (in old mini) where undergraduate students (boys) are welcome – not many it must be said.
3. Sign up. Eye shotgun owned by landlord with suspicion.
4. Move in with lp’s, cassettes, bedding etc. in back of Dad’s (or somebody else’s Dad’s) car as mini too small.
5. Plug in electric bar heater, fix holes in bathroom window and break ice when needing shave.
6. Spend rent money on beer and cigarettes.

Summary

Time taken – couple of days. Experience – okay what do you expect? Paperwork – what’s that?

1986

Process Chain

1. Arrive at Tullamarine Melbourne, early morning January.
2. Spend morning at new job.
3. Go to Turnbull Cook on Toorak Road in South Yarra. Andrew shows us round a couple of whizzy flats.
4. Sign up. A few details printed on a dot matrix printer from their PC rental software (Peak productivity).
5. Move in. Duvet (doona) in plastic bag.
6. Spend rent money on rent.

Summary

Time taken – one day. Experience – fabulous. Paperwork – 10 minutes tops, pay with EFTPOS.

2026

Process Chain

1. Spend a week browsing through www.realestate.com.au, trying to get the saved searches right, fiddling with tens of parameters, sorting on various criteria. What fun. Better than smoking just.
2. Prepare applications – reams of personal information disclosure and uploading identity documents. What for? Busy-bodies.
3. Prepare program of visits, e-mails, texts, invites, flying all over. Print it out.
4. Turn up for viewings. Some very bizarre behaviour including taking a picture of a washing machine, the girlfriend in a wardrobe and getting in a panic when a door won’t open. #surftoserf
5. Sign up, pay up – huge bond and rent in advance.
6. Receive torrent of e-mails and texts about other properties and other things.
7. Delete all personal information a.s.a.p.
8. Move in.

Summary

Time taken – four or five days – do young people have to do this? Experience – bewildering. Paperwork? Piles of it.

How did we get here?