This kind of logic fears that difference will lead to isolation. It does not wish to gamble on the possibility that the traditional identity of Melbourne University might indeed be its main source of differentiation. The same logic might apply to the use of hands in craft work. Clearly, machines promise to make work easier and more reliable. To do things by hand is to make life difficult.
Difficulty can imply many things.
Difficulty here provides the basis for the labour that extends the self beyond its own desires. In this sense, it is not that life wasn't meant to be easy, but that life shouldn't be easy. Difficulty moves in the opposite direction to the call for more efficient work practices. I can't argue against the line that market competition makes efficiency more important. What I feel I can argue is that the modern world requires a difference of this kind.