I think what we've seen happen so far is that as we've applied technology for the picking process in the store, for example, is that job composition has changed but we have about the same number of people.

Digital reading will completely take over. It's lightweight and it's fantastic for sharing. Over time it will take over.

Customers want to save money and time and have the broadest assortment of items, and we think that by bringing e-commerce and digital capabilities together with the stores, we can do things that a pure e-commerce player can't.

As I look across our company, we have everything from store associates to supply chain associates. Of the 2.1 million people (globally), something less than 75,000 of them are home office jobs. All the other ones are working in a store, a club, a distribution center. And I think those jobs change more gradually. We are still going to want to serve customers and members with people. The change as it relates to the home office jobs probably happens faster.

Time after time, history ran over the luddites and romanticists, those who sought to restore the old and delay the new. And every time, history did it with faster, more reliable and more advanced vehicles.

The typical project design time for a large company like IBM - and they keep track of this - is a little over four years.