I was calling a customer enquiry line. As usual, it cost me extra to call this type of number, because it is one way companies make money. And as usual, I was greeted by an automated voice ,'Your call is very important to us. Please hold...' Except that this time, it didn't ask me to key in my account number but to read it out. Oh wow! More advanced technology? But after I was told for the third time, by the cold, pretentiously sweet voice that it could not recognise my number, and realising that this would simply go on ad infinitum and that I would never get transferred to a human however long I waited, I could contain my rage no more.

This is just something that is becoming ubiquitous. I remember being equally outraged on finding out that a company as big as British Telecom did not wish to be contacted by telephone. On their website, no number was provided. Instead, I was encouraged to talk to a robot assistant and refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. With expanding population and perpetual unemployment, why has it become ever more difficult to speak to a human being?

People who have not had such experiences may not understand. But up to this point, I was utterly sympathetic with my friend Bruce, who has written about similar traumas and is quoted herein: "If the Renaissance resuscitated manhood from the drudgery of religious pretension and cumbersome rituals, the Industrial Revolution freed man from the laborious work to fend for himself and the family, and the second industrial revolution abolished the chains that bound women to household chores, the so-called IT revolution, however, is really a counter-revolutionary force in that respect -- the previous acts reinstated humanity after a long period of engineered forgetfulness; the last episode, however, is now in its full vigour to conceal, ridicule and devour that very humanity which had been so hard fought for and won.”

Yes, technology, the driver of economic growth and efficiency, has completely transformed our society and along with it the meaning of many concepts, such as "service". It may take a few years or decades for you to sense this change if you are living in a populous country where labour is still cheaper than machines. Otherwise, you should by now be fully aware of the apparent fact that consumer sovereignty is the first thing to be assaulted whenever a new technology appears. I believe the initial adoption of automated services was well-intended: to make life easier for those customers who find it inconvenient to visit the counters, or to reduce queuing time. Well, so much for the good intentions now that automation is the only option and instead of waiting in lines, we wait on the phone. Customers used to be truly valued, sincerely received and readily helped. Now they are very often turned away from service counters because "You can do this online – it takes 5 seconds" or "I can't help you with this. I'm afraid you'll have to call Customer Services." The worst of all is "I can do it right now but I can't be bothered so why don't you go away and call someone else". The brighter side is that it’ll always be some other, less direct versions that you hear.

And what about the supermarkets, another invention in the name of 'convenience'? Surely this business model gives customers more choices and practically transformed shopping from a chore to a leisure activity. But mind you, we are loading and carrying our own baskets and some of us are checking ourselves out. All this used to be done by the shopkeepers. Soon they are going to have us load the stocks onto the shelves. You may think you are better off as a shopper, but I think the shop owners are much more better-off.

Service is part, if not all, of what we buy. To this end, I don't think it's worth boasting efficiency gains through automation just yet. Surely, cost is dramatically reduced, but the quality of the products has declined, too. If profits and bottom lines are all that we care about at all costs, what becomes of our society?

Fortunately, Bruce, my idol, also took note of and found consolation in the fact that the most desirable and expensive products of our age invariably distance themselves from the mass-manufactured, technology-embedded crowd by claiming to be "natural", "organic", "hand-made” or "using traditional methods". So should I.