Cake-Mix Effect

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At the ever-accelerating pace of obsolescence the ability to mechanize and automate complex processes often cuts out a "middle-man" which society still believes is in possession of value. In this process, the desire to preserve cultural heritage and social networks haults technological progress and maintains steps in a sequence that might from other perspectives seem inefficient. A perfect example is that of the cake mix itself, which simplifies the process of baking, yet maintains certain baking tasks in order to preserve a distilled baking experience. Important questions to be asked: Does the medium maintain a sequence in its operation that is inefficient? Might the users of this artifact have benefitted from the preservation of certain practices rather than see them entirely replaced by the machine?