Did you know that flagging this post would damage the author's reputation across the board and hurt his business here on Steemit? Disapproving of content is not reason enough to flag. Flagging is for inappropriate content. It is really NOT a down vote button.
As another person who would sincerely like to know why you are against automation, would you mind telling us why. Bots are used on Ebay to place bids at the last second, the stock market uses automation and so do many, many other systems. Computers are supposed to make our lives easier, more efficient and reduce errors. Using them to do these things for us allows us to focus on more important things that computers can't do.
I was actually thinking of building a website that would allow people to do this very thing. Add a list of their favorite authors and what time they would like to post to their articles. Is this something that you would be against?
What is the purpose for the 30 minute delay?
You can find a lot of information in the white paper. Basically, the 30 min delay is to limit bots gaming the system. I don't think it worked though and just made it more difficult for everyone to use the platform effectively. The 30 min delay is actually a great reason to use a bot so that you don't forget to vote.