The Vanishing Engineer: A Reflection on Digital Transformation
There was a time—not so long ago—when you could spot an engineer from across the room.
Short haircut or bald. Glasses, always.
White shirt, short sleeves. Pocket, of course.
Inside: two mechanical pencils (because a real engineer knows one will fail), and a pen—reserved for the team lead.
A small notebook, worn at the edges, filled with sketches, formulas, and the occasional existential sigh.
This wasn’t a costume. It was a signal.
A declaration of intent.
A quiet promise: I build things that work.
From the 70s through the 90s, this image held.
Engineers were not stylized—they were functional.
They didn’t need branding. Their tools were their identity.
And now?
No notebook. No mechanical pencils.
No sleeves to roll up.
Just screens, avatars, and digital whiteboards that erase themselves.
The transformation is not just technological—it’s symbolic.
The engineer has become invisible.
No trace of graphite. No ink.
Just keystrokes and cloud sync.
We gained efficiency.
We lost the ritual.
The Witness Note:
I remember when engineers were unmistakable—pencils in pocket, notebook in hand, ready to build things that worked. Today, screens and cloud sync have replaced those rituals. We’ve gained efficiency, but have we lost something deeper?
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