Fundamental misconceptions about the role of computers

[Caveman Joe]

I'm aware that just about everybody in this forum is pretty handy with computers - so perhaps you guys would be the best to comment on this sort of thing.
Does anybody else get the impression that the general public's view of what computers are for is at best rather vague (computers are "tools" or "thinking engines") and at worst outright wrong (computers are machines with which to shuffle around data, always to be supervised and told what to do by an unskilled human)? I ask because I take the occasional temporary (like, a week tops) data entry position to supplement what I make from website design, advertising and hosting, and I note that pretty well every single job I take could be completely automated with an hour's programming - which makes me very frustrated, as performing such jobs is a perfect waste of human life when we can simply program the computer to do said tasks for us.
I've blogged about it in greater detail here, if anyone's interested (along with a primer for new users on what they should expect their computers to do for them, and why it doesn't always work out that way).
What are the forum's views on this problem?

[Baltar]

I agree with what you're saying about automation, but I'm not really sure what you're saying in your blog. In its simplest form, a computer is just a bunch of hardware that's designed to execute programs. You don't interact with the computer at all, only with the software that it's running.

[febflake]

I think his point is:
"Learn basic scripting stuff, people!"

(and I agree)

(but not too much, I still need my job)

[Holistic Star]

What annoys me is companies that have spent quite a lot of money on a database, so insist on it being used, however the database doesn't have the functionallity that you need, so you have to re-type the data into different spreadsheets to be able to analyse it or use it in any way completely defeating the object of having a database.

I've worked for a few companies that are like this. They have no idea how much time (and therefore money) is being wasted in re-typing data and how many more errors are likely due to inconsistancies between each file. However they are completely closed to upgrading the database because it costs money!