PC Magazine - 2009 11.pdf - Libertad Zero

jOHN c. dvorakLost ProductivityLamentThere is some unwritten lawor concept that tells us thatcomputers have contributedto worker and individual productivity.The concept is evenembedded in various productivity calculationswhereby just getting a faster machinemeans you have higher productivity.I question this, as I have been with thedesktop computer scene and have had apersonal computer—usually the hottest onearound—since 1976. My productivity as a columnistis obviously improved by word processing,but the difference between a wordprocessor in 1980 and a word processor in2009 insofar as my personal productivity isconcerned shows no difference. It peakedright away.And how many people are writers wherethey can show any productivity at all? Theway I see it, only writers, accountants usingspreadsheets, and graphic artists using Photoshopcan show any real productivity gainsof any consequence insofar as the desktopcomputer is concerned.And, yes, the microprocessors have aidedmachinists and embroiderers, and that doesaffect productivity. But can we balance allthese productivity gains with the downsideof computers? Why isn’t that factored intothe equation?Where Did My Two Hours Go?From the perspective of the desktopcomputer user, the opportunity for thesemachines to steal time is phenomenal. Evergo into a chat room? They are kind of interestingand compelling until you realize thatyou are communicating in one of the slowestand most demanding mediums ever. The relativebaud rate is nil and time is squandered.These chat rooms have almost all evolvedinto social networking quagmires. My daughter,who until recently eschewed Facebook,for example, used to spend her spare timemaking art. She adopted Facebook as a conduitfor keeping up with friends, whom shesees all the time anyway, and now her time issimply wasted writing vapid posts.This is just the tip of the time-wasting42 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION NOVEMBER 2009