This week, I'm using my super power to replace a sign-up sheet in a clipboard that once hung on an office door. Is there any menial task I cannot defeat? I am Invincible!
Maybe the list got too long and difficult to manage.
Maybe the maintainer of the list wants to search for specific people without scanning the entire list.
Maybe the maintainer wanted to be able to email attendants without manually entering all the names.
I don't know the specifics of the project, so perhaps you're right. My point was not specific to the project; I was simply trying to allude to the fact that you don't have to be writing the software for rocket ships for it to be useful and productive.
- Professional-quality publishing (text, images, printing)
- Sending text/images to your friend in another state
- Looking up any kind of information (Library trip?)
- Buying things that aren't at your local grocer (Mail-order?)
When someone asked "Who was that guy, in that movie? You know, the guy?", you didn't look up imdb.com on your smartphone while everyone watches you type on a tiny screen, you said "dunno" and moved on with your life. You didn't spend ten minutes debating between buying the 4ft or 6ft USB cables and finding the best price online because you didn't need to buy USB cables.
Yeah, things have changed, but progressed? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back, but that's more to do with being accustomed to this lifestyle, not because it's particularly better. We do more because we're expected to do more, and we're expected to do more because somebody else started doing more.
"Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
Your comment about imdb and USB cables reminds me of this post on Penny Arcade: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/3/9/
I specifically remember my godfather running around the house in his underwear yelling "I have shit for brains!" when being proven wrong about a movie after 20 minutes of arguing back and forth.
The elimination of that ritual is a net benefit for society.
I do specifically remember running around for hours looking for the catalog of office supplies from my local office supply company then spending at least an hour finding the right kind of hanging folders to order (then waiting 6 weeks for delivery).
Repeat that exercise for pretty much everything from power cables to underwear and we're definitely in a better place.
When I was a kid I used to flip through the Sears catalog to the toy section.
I actually really like the catalog that ThinkGeek sends out. It reminds me of all the good parts of the SkyMall magazines, but with funner toys.
Speak for yourself. Why are you working yourself to death? I am a programmer and am not working myself to death.
Yeah, but we still have to deal with the anti-programmers who create negative productivity with their grotty code before we're in the clear :)