The guy at the hardware store knew you by name, knew what you were working on, suggested a new, relevant product that just came in, and might have even dropped by to see how you were getting along.

“Hey Kent, I hear you’re trying to take down that old tree in your yard. We just got in this new chainsaw…”

The lady at the grocery store knew you too, asked about the kids, and gave you a heads up on what would be going on sale in the coming week.

“Oh Janice, your litte Kent is growing up… You don’t want to get your Thanksgiving turkey this week. Don’t tell the manager, but they will be .50 a pound next week.”

Even tellers at the bank knew you by name and didn’t need to verify your identity with a photo ID, signature checking software, a pin number or a username and password.

“Hi Mr. Miller, how are you?

The same probably could have been said for librarians who knew their patrons by name, knew what they liked reading, knew what they had in house, and then made recommendations.

“Kent we just got in the latest book in that series you’ve been reading.”

The list goes on. To me the real question is What does this say about our humanity when we need machines to do this?