Office Automation is a... thing, which helps us be more efficient in the worship of Mammon. It is not meant to replace human effort, but rather enhance it, or so they say. Examples of Office Automation can belong to both software-such as word processors-and hardware-such as printers.

Office Mechanization is yet another type of thing. In this case, it does not help, it replaces, which can be considered a kind of help, I guess. An example of Office Mechanization, limited strictly to the computer context, can be the spell-checker function in many word processor programs, as this task could've been a whole trade before.

There is a very thin layer separating mechanization from automation. It really depends on the specific moment in time you have the misfortune to witness the relevant technology from. Word processors came to replace typewriters, thus effectively replacing people whom had specialized in typewriting, as it had now become easier for everyone to write.

On the other hand, automation does not outright eliminate a task, and instead streamlines it, making it easier, faster, more effective. When you talk about mechanization, you are referring to a complete replacement.

Yes, they are. In fact, not only is automation good, mechanization is also good. Anything that reduces the amount of toil a man ought to do is good. Free time means creativity, and creativity means... good?

And yet, even more than a hundred years after it was deemed that machinery had effectively eliminated the need for hard labor in many areas, we still hold on to that sweet, sweet lie, that a man must be a slave, lest he be a lazy waste of resources.

How is it that we praise the inventiveness of these new gizmos, and how they reduce costs and the need for workers; how companies can now fire those pesky, replaceable grunts, and have the robots that they've always wanted; and still we need to go to work 6-6, and suffer the humiliation of being called incompetent, after years and years and even more years of hard work, getting ready to receive a piece of paper that certifies you as a worthy soul? I don't know, do you?

So, I don't know, maybe it's not the machine's fault, it's man's, that we are slaves. But office automation is good.