I'm reverting to another age

The following video, via Tim O'Reilly's Twitter feed, explains why computers are bad for the relationship between doctors and patients.

More here.

I don't know enough about the subject to be sure that the thesis is true.

I do have uncomfortable prejudices, however, which lead me to believe that - in some ways - it may be.

I wonder if it is right that in the same way as presentations all become squeezed into the itsy-bitsy bottle that is PowerPoint, so medical records should find a rigid common software format.  As we medicalise society's ills to a level unheard of a generation ago, at the same time - most curiously - we find ourselves taking doctors' precious time up with more and more IT-related tasks.

Of course, there are clear drivers.  Paper was copyright-free.  There's a whole business and industry to be built on the backs of bespoke software for medical purposes.  More importantly, most people who communicate in a medical context are specialists who have spent years learning how to do what they do - precious years they have been unable to dedicate to the task of knowing when and why software is good or bad.  Plenty of room for pushy salespeople to encourage those who really don't know to buy what they really will never understand.

Yes.  I'm reverting to a bygone age.  Never did think it could happen.