Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!nosc!crash!ncr-sd!sagpd1!jharkins
From: jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Too much computing is detrimental
Message-ID: <828@sagpd1.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jun 90 21:04:24 GMT
References: <29256@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> <25l4zrr@unify.uucp>
Reply-To: jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins)
Distribution: na
Organization: Scientific Atlanta, Government Products Div, San Diego, CA
Lines: 60

In article <29256@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> polvino@acsu.buffalo.edu (joseph s polvino) writes:
>I truly believe that too much computing resources can have negative effects.

Sure, you have to buy a thicker pad for your chair, get new glasses more
often, invest in house wiring upgrades, buy decaf coffee, turn up the air
conditioner, etc.

>How about the PC fanatic who has 5 different TSR programs
>to pop up everything from an alarm clock to a scientific calculator.

Well lets see.  In my toolbox I've got about 10 diffent screwdrivers in
different sizes with both slot and phillips heads, a couple different types
of pliers, a socket wrench set in both SI and metric units, etc.  To be
honest, as good a handyman as I am I could get by with just a medium sized
screwdriver and a pair of vice grips :-)

>Seriously, wouldn't it be easier to stick a printout of the ASCII table on
>your wall rather than having it waste memory?

Nope, I've got an ascii Snoopy there already.  The ones I put into my drawers
I can never find when I want them, likewise I have half a dozen books with
ASCII tables, I just don't know which half dozen they are.

>Now that laser printers are popular, font hoarding is common.  Do you really
>need 60 fonts on your hard drive?  Mr. Dvorak writes about this "typeface
>indecision obsession complex. 

Well, now that CD players are common so is hoarding of disks.  Lets be honest,
I can only stick 6 disks in my player at a time, why should I have any more?
Jeez, I sure do waste a lot of time trying to figure out which 6 of my 100+
disks I want immediately accesible.

>The most blatently wasteful piece of software is the one (can't remember the
>name) that displays a graphic message on the screen describing your
>whereabouts.

I know a lot of people who would nominate the program 'rn'. :-)

>The whole point I'm trying to make is that forcing computers to do things that
>can be done easier by humans is harmful to industry.  Think of all the time
>and money wasted by non-constructive use of computers.  I seriously recommend
>Mr. Dvorak's column.  He has a humorous way of telling the truth.

Computers are tools.  Actually, I would liken a well stocked hard drive to a
well stocked tool box.  Sure, there's usually only 1 tool thats best for a
job but there's been times where I tried several tools to find that one.  I've
also got tools that I used once, as well as novelty tools that aren't very
useful (like one made to pull wheels off covered wagons).  The one thing my
assortment does is let me experiment.  Now I understand you are probably
smarter than me and can learn very well from books and newspapers, but I
learn best when I experiment.

If I remember correctly, UNIX was written so a couple of hackers could run
space war easier.  Definate waste of time there! 


-- 
jim		jharkins@sagpd1

I hate to see you go, but I love to see you walk away.