The Richly or Poorly Show
Show Transcript
shdawson-20260616.mp3
Episode 06/16/2026
06/16/2026
Hello! Welcome to The Richly or Poorly Show!
My name is Dr. Stephen Dawson, and I am your show host.
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The show's motto is unmistakable: RICHLY IS GOODLY!
Please consider how you define the term good as we journey through life together in your pursuit of defining the term richly in your life.
Last week, I presented on the topic of communication from the position of the second part of the seven-part purchase process, Determine Trust, using the scenario where you must purchase from a supplier that you are struggling to trust. The reasons for not trusting them as of now could be that they are behaving as a bully, they do not have the intelligence to be able to deliver what you purchase from them, or they are being forced to do what they do not want to do by another person, resulting in you being unable to trust them.
Today, I will present a true story from my third-grade learning that is playing out in much of humanity today. The intent of sharing the story with you is to illustrate how you, as a person, and how businesses, do not have to suffer from the problem I experienced in October 1972. The intended outcome of this episode is to have money going into your pocket faster than you can count the money by empowering you to live your life more richly, both tangibly and intangibly. This topic requires several show episodes to take you through the events you are about to experience.
I started my third-grade learning when I was seven years old. I was not too excited about school. I wanted to learn. What I did not want was to spend seven hours five days a week doing only a bit of learning and much sitting around doing nothing. I was two months into my third-grade learning when I decided my teacher loved to talk but did not like to teach. She simply did not communicate well to teach by way of messages and structured presentations. It was clear to me as a child that she was in the wrong line of work.
One day in October 1972, she gathered the 32 students in her class around her feet as she sat in a chair to do some teaching. That day, she read us a story. I did not like the nature of how our teacher taught, so I did not listen closely. I did not like the theme of the story she read, so I ignored her. She then said at the end of the story two things I had never heard from anyone before then. First, she said we were to take the story we just heard and do a creative writing assignment of it, where we write a story like the story she just read. Second, we were to do this assignment at home in the form of homework. The assignment was due to her at the beginning of the next school day, which was less than 24 hours.
Well, my heart almost stopped from the shock. I knew I did not know the story to do anything with it. She did not define creative writing, so I did not know how to do creative writing. She did not define homework, so I did not know how to do homework. We went on about our day with other assignments and went home.
I did not learn until years later the complexity of the definition of creative writing. It is one of the most difficult forms of writing, way more difficult than academic writing. I was shocked to think of how silly my teacher was to require a creative writing assignment from us as third-grade students.
So, I went home that day to where every child did in those days after school was over. I went to watch television. Indeed, not a good choice for a homework environment. I got some paper and a pencil and began to write what I could from what I heard about the story. I understood creative writing was to write a story about a story. That is not the same definition she provided to us, but I did not know the difference at the time. So, I wrote what I understood the story covered as a summary of the story.
The next day, we all gave our teacher our homework assignment the first thing in the morning. A few hours later, we all gathered around her as we did the day before to hear what she was to say. She said she read all 32 assignment submissions. She said she was disappointed in 31 of us. She said she was thrilled and quite impressed with my work.
Well, my heart almost stopped again from the surprise. She then read my writing to the class. All my classmates were impressed by my work. What I wrote was nowhere near close to what was contained in the story our teacher read to us. The teacher then explained in a bit more detail about creative writing. I wrote what she wanted, a story on a completely different topic, having no idea what I was doing. I never told anyone anything about the events.
Now, why in the world would the teacher not explain in detail the day before about creative writing? She did not explain because she simply did not know how to teach. Why in the world would a teacher send off their students to do homework without explaining in detail about how to do schoolwork at home successfully? The same reason, she simply did not know how to teach.
I read an article in May 1999 published by Microsoft. They said in the article the day had arrived when there was no difference between a word processing document file and a web page. The point of the article was that their word processor, Microsoft Word, was able to export the material into a web page file that is ready for publishing. Their article was a complete catastrophe for Microsoft. The majority of the audience of the world who read the article understood their point to be that there is no need for word processing anymore, as it is better to use web pages to communicate text messages.
So, December 31, 1999, came and went, where the world had to change all computer systems to be able to handle the date problem of two characters versus four characters for the year part of a date. Summarizing, the next year would be seen as zeroes, resulting in the year one-nine-zero-zero, not the year two-zero-zero-zero. The problem was fixed by almost all computer users in the world getting a new computer.
Then, the economy crashed six months later when many e-commerce companies went bankrupt. Then, in September 2001, there was a terrorist attack in the United States. So, when Microsoft released its next version of Microsoft Office in 2002, only about 40% of the computer users purchased it. This was a B-I-G change, as almost 100% of computer users since 1995 had purchased the various versions of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office launched as a product in 1995.
My work in computers since January 1989 helped to convince me in May 1999 that putting a word processor into an application in a web browser instead of installing it on a computer would indeed be the end of Microsoft Office as a product. Google introduced the word processor in a web browser in 2015 and Microsoft in 2016. The features in a word processor as a web application from both Google and Microsoft improve by the day.
Now, the part about the money going into your pocket faster than you can count the money. Here is where you can apply what I have told you today to your wallet that holds your money.
The push from 2012 forward in the world of computers was to abandon all paper forms and archives in all businesses and government agencies. It was called going digital. The trend was growing both bigger and faster until the global pandemic occurred in January 2020. Then, going digital had to happen immediately. No one, understandably, wanted to touch a piece of paper that could be contaminated with a form of biology that was able to kill a person. All companies that wanted to be 100% digital by June 2022 completed the effort to become 100% digital.
Now, here is the part you want to focus on about that money going into your pocket.
Not all companies wanted to go 100% digital. Why, you ask? Simple, they were too lazy to do it. The companies that went 100% digital then were able to be more profitable because of cost efficiencies gained by both structured processes and automation by computers. The companies that did not want to go 100% digital simply raised their prices to be more profitable by telling everyone it was due to inflation and the costs associated with the global pandemic.
The accounting statements of all public companies showed clearly by 2024 of what companies were 100% digital, by measuring who was delivering on manufacturing and selling, and who was not. The rise of artificial intelligence in 2024 then raised more business costs, enabling companies to raise prices even further. 2025 marked the beginning of layoffs for lower-skilled workers due to artificial intelligence being able to do the work of those workers.
The work accomplished by word processing will never end. There is always a need to both capture and structure text, numbers, and pictures.
Now, you may be wondering why a business would not want to use a word processor as a web application. Simple. The leaders of those businesses are not leading those businesses. They cannot find a way to get their employees to do the word processing work using a web application instead of a word processing file on a hard drive. The employees will not do word processing using a web application because they do not want to be accountable for their time and actions. This condition means there is no way to oversee an employee's performance, their progress, or to collaborate with the employee to accomplish the word processing work. An employee refusing to use a word processor in a web application is the same scenario as I experienced in October 1972 with my creative writing homework assignment.
So, what is next, you are asking? Simple. Those companies that did not go 100% digital will go bankrupt, be purchased in parts by other companies, and the workers will be out of a job. All workers, you ask? Not at first. The executives will be out of a job immediately, as will all vice presidents and directors. The reason is they are the ones who led the company to bankruptcy. Keeping them as workers will only spread the failed leadership problem. The only ones who will have a job are the lower authority workers. They will help transfer business lines to the companies that purchase them. Then, those acquired workers will go through a layoff after a few years of work and be out of a job.
Deeper still, the employees refusing to use a word processor in a web application could complain that they do not know how to use a word processor in a web application. The good news is that learning can be accomplished in approximately one hour of structured training.
Now, I hear you saying to me that not all workers go through what I just presented. Remember, this is the age of artificial intelligence. AI is the difference this time.
I have helped many families and businesses transition from Microsoft Office on their computers to using either the Google or Microsoft word processor as a web application, along with the other technologies in the Office suite of applications. There are six distinct benefits of using a word processor by way of a web application.
First, there is no file to fail on a hard drive.
Second, there is no file on a hard drive that can be infected with a computer virus.
Third, there is no file on a hard drive that will be lost when the hard drive dies.
Fourth, the ability to share the word processing work through collaboration.
Fifth, the ability to translate text entered in word processing work into another language.
Finally, the ability to use artificial intelligence seamlessly with the word processing work.
Please understand my statement here about a hard drive is just as applicable to a USB drive.
There is no reason that I can find for a teacher not to teach students, a leader not to lead businesses, employees not to do what their boss is paying them to do, and not to use a word processor in a web application.
So, you may be asking yourself now ... who cares about any of what I just shared with you? Well, I have good news for you. That person is you, the one who wants to live their life more richly.
You see, in less than fifty years from today, the world will have robots doing things like working the front desk of hotels, robots cleaning the rooms of hotels, and robots cleaning the laundry of the hotels. Robots will fix the robots that need fixing.
Let's say a generation occurs every 20 years. This means that in two generations from today, there will be no more unqualified workers being paid to work. This means immigration will not occur because there are no jobs for the service worker who has no skills.
The absolute best commercial real estate construction I have ever seen is in Hong Kong. All construction occurs with cinder blocks, cement, bricks, metal, and glass. There is not one bit of wood to be found. Every square inch is accounted for in Hong Kong construction. So, the construction workers of the future are skilled laborers, not service laborers who have no skills. There will also be robots helping the skilled laborers with the real estate construction work.
A person today, in 2026, who refuses to use a technology such as a word processor in any form is an unqualified worker. They will be out of work in less than a decade from today. Those who can write meaningful messages, who can use a word processor to capture their writing, and can get their words onto a web page are the ones who will have work. Those who attempt to write in a language they do not understand will be out of work in well less than a decade.
The artificial intelligence already in place today can do all that I am describing to you today. It is a matter of how well artificial intelligence can do the work today. It is my considered position that artificial intelligence will be mainstream in the lives of those in developed nations in less than five years from today. I hold this position because of the smartphone positioned in the hands of 75% of the world's population today. Smartphones will accelerate both the development and adoption of artificial intelligence more than any other piece of the picture.
Now, I have shared much information with you today. Next week, I will provide you with more context on how to succeed in the time between now and the next ten years, specifically between now and the next five years. Succeed, in the form of maintaining your form of income and having money going into your pocket faster than you can count the money.
I suggest you take the time between now and our time together next week and put your hands on Google Docs and Microsoft Word Online. Both are free to use. Take the time and use both of the word processors to write a simple one-page letter to a loved one. This action will teach you the mechanics of using each of the technologies. You will need to learn Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive to do what I just suggested to you now, but that will only take you another 15 minutes to learn both of them.
Here are two links for you to visit to do this work.
First Link:
onedrive DOT live DOT COM
Second Link:
drive DOT google DOT COM
Well, that's it for today.
RICHLY IS GOODLY!
Thank you for joining me for this episode of The Richly or Poorly Show!
I have enjoyed presenting to you today.
Until the next episode, I hope you will be safe and join me next week.
Until then.
© 2026 SH Dawson. All rights reserved.