The PC is 30 - but are we any better off?

"You can pry my PC from my cold dead hands!"

There is no doubt in my mind that we are more productive because of the PC - although I do think that the level of productivity only jumps every few years when there is a real innovation. The PC was the first innovation, the Internet was the second, and mobile devices are the third. I can't wait to see what the fourth jump is!

There is a degree of truth in various devices fighting for our time - but I also think that these devices have helped us to fill those benign timespans that before were unproductive - like the 10 minutes waiting in line for something. So I think it balances out overall.

..now if could just finish the next level of Angry birds I could get one with the gardening... :)

You have to remember that the PC is only the branded name, and home computers were around for years before that (specifically - Apple (the original Apple, not this MAC stuff that came to replace it as the Apple company went to compete head to head with IBM with the GUI race). There were other brands around that had their merits as well.

But, the Internet was around long before any home computers, but it was the World Wide Web that made home computing more "interesting and worthwhile" - which was a big step up from the old internet (restrictive) or BBS.

Overall, I do think that we are better off with the newer technology. Older people (like myself) remember back when we did not have home computers nor PCs, and also remember the infancy of the PC and the technology that it incorporated. I don't believe that many people could believe, at that time, what a truely profound impact that "PC"s would have and how the recreational and business uses that are now done from any device, not just PCs anymore.

At the time of the WWW, people were still not sure if it would actually catch on. There was a recent interview with one of the creators of the WWW that was interesting, and in that, she described what was, and what is of the WWW, and that it has bloomed beyond anyones imagination of what is out there. The information super hiway is out there, with many pit stops and tourist attractions on the side. And, the creator of the WWW is not done yet. He has new visions of what the "Web" can and should be doing. See here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/happy_20th_birthday_world_wide_web.php

For the younger people who have grown up with computers, especially the newest generation who has known nothing but the "super computers" that are now available, I do not think that they could imagine what it was like to have to try and do any routine job without a computer. Computers and technology have fully integrated into our lives... In some ways, more than they should, but not always in a bad way. Imagine wanting to know something, and having to learn it, or find some literature (what is a library?), or even someone who knows about that particular subject... each of which is very time consuming. Now... find your favourite search engine, type in your query.. and.. there you go.. usually over 10,000 results in LESS THAN A SECOND !!! This technology would have made grade school reports so much easier...

Technology is technology... simple. But, it is the creators (and ultimately users) of this technology that determines how it will be used. Yes, there are great productivity tools and devices out there, but it feels like, to me at least, that for every "legitimate" productivity tool out there, there are 3 - 7 other tools to help waste (or at least conflict with) the time that should be used productively.

Overall, yes.. computing power has made me (and most people in general) more productive. Of course, productivity is relative to the person (a teen can be productive using technology to update the latest tweet or FB at incredible speeds for the people that they think really care about what everyone is doing at this very second). Not to pick on teens, as I do happen to know some adults that are like this as well.. but, they do say that they are productive doing this, as with a simple input and press of an update button, they let every one of their "friends" know what they are doing / how they are feeling / etc...

Business wise, you cannot deny that computers have increased productivity to a point that is almost effortless (save the frustrating hours of having the learn the technology to use it properly) for many tasks, including what used to take hours or days to prepare. Otherwise, how can forums, such as this one, reach so many people at any given time (thanks in due to storage / archiving to retreive old posts at any time) including the moment that this page is loaded onto the Web Server. Many tech magazines no longer offer paper subscriptions, but are all electronic. Saves money, definitely due to printing and mailing costs, but also reduces the time factor. Recipients on the mailing lists receive it much quicker than by any snail mail comparison.

It is because the entire tech community and users are asking for "instant gratification and results" that we feel the need to spend the additional seconds and minutes while waiting to fill our time with the recreational use of technology.

Remember when e-mail was a revolution? E-mail is now considered almost obsolete due to the instant gratification of IMs (Instant Messaging Services). You can chat, and even send files across IMs now. Why waste 5 minutes waiting for an email with an attachment anymore??

Are we more productive? no. Here's an example. In a company when someone creates a letter for their boss, it can go back and forth a half dozen times or more before it gets sent. Why? Because it is now so easy to make changes. I shudder if there is a communication group that gets their hands on the letter and edits ad nauseum. Previously, when a letter was typed on a typewriter you had one chance to get it right and off went the letter. Add up the cost and time spent on company letters and you will be in for a shock.
I won't even go into how useless most people are using Excel. They can data enter but they can't think, so they can't create efficient spreadsheets to simplify their work.
lol

Yes, we are more productive. Less face to face meetings and telephone tagging. We also save on some paper usage too. Less pollution is a plus.

I cannot say that there is less paper usage. When computers became mainstream in business so many years ago, it was supposed to create the "paperless office". What ended up happening however, is that papework has actually increased, as well as the amount of physical copies available. Due to the ease of being able to replicate this work, and print off a copy for their own use, the number of pieces of paper has drastically increased.

In the same vein, you also cannot say that this is creating less pollution. Typerwriters had no to little impact on the operating environment or operating costs of a company. A computer? Well, there is the tower, the monitor, printer, etc, and also any supplies needed, such as paper and ink for the printer. These draw far MORE resources than any typerwriter, even the electric typerwriters.

Overally, this is an egological step back in the way to do business.

Yes, there are SMART devices with power saving features, but they still cannot stand up to the power consumption of a single electronic typewriter or even moreso to the old manual style.

Sorry,I don't know.