February 19, 2005
A reader asks if the RSI problem has quietly disappeared from the list of the world's ails, or if there's some secret hush-hush campaign at work? Good question.
I wonder about that too, but since I'm not suffering much these days, I quickly move on to other mysteries. On the one hand, we've just about run through the third printing (2000, 4000, then 2000) of our book and will be printing another 2000. Our distributor seems to keep getting orders despite our complete lack of promotion. So the problem isn't disappearing.
Maybe the stream of education and awareness has stopped some suffering before it's become chronic. People joke about warning labels being infantile and gratuitous, but lots and lots of keyboards have a vague warning label. The label does little, but that little is big if it makes someone respond seriously once they notice a problem, however little.
Or perhaps the overall financial climate, the balance of power shifted back toward employers is also a factor in the hush. And some of the problem has moved offshore with the repetitive jobs.
Maybe the problem is still huge and will get worse, but it's just the headlines that are small. It's not news anymore and we're a sensation-centric society. I occasionally wonder about a different type of newspaper: maybe all of the stories should be reprinted every day and the headline size should just be adjusted to indicate the current severity. Sort of a bar-chart version of the news. Bottom line, the mood you're perceiving-that we all as RSI sufferers perceive- is one of societal sensation, not reasoned consideration or social agenda, and certainly not individual sensation.