All Electronic, All the Time

In one of his many editorials on science and technology outside of America, Thomas Friedman sticks to his mantra about how we're falling behind.

I wonder. I was talking to a friend over the weekend about how fruitful my time has been since I first acquired a PC at home in 1993 (I had a PC at work earlier). That very first home PC, a 16 MHz laptop with an 80 MB harddrive, running only MS-DOS most of the time, produced more useful output than any PC since. Indeed, I've noticed an inverse relationship between the power of my PC and speed of Internet access, and my productive output. Why?

To be honest, I noticed a similar correlation at work. The easier Internet access became, the more I and my coworkers seemed to be spending work time browsing through web pages that weren't part of our work. Companies also seem to have noticed this, as they've moved to restrict access at work.

I think Mr. Friedman has caught the dot-com virus. In the late 1990's, any new technology seemed to be embraced for its own sake. Few people were asking how much of it would prove viable, or useful, even as enthusiasm and funding soared. Of course, that bubble burst, at least in America.

Now I'll admit I use the Internet a lot, including for this blog. But I keep hearing this nagging voice tell me that I use it too much, that I've moved well into the zone of diminishing returns. Whatever happened to reading good books, or doing analytical research, or working to help other people, or any number of non-electronic activities? I think those tend to get sucked into this electronic black hole called the Internet.

Maybe high speed wi-fi in subways will help Mr. Friedman write his editorials and transmit them. Maybe it will help businesspeople work even as they commute. But maybe most people will use it simply to browse non-productively to avoid boredom. And maybe even the people who use it productively will lose something by not using that time to unplug, and reflect. At least in my case, I found the most difficult problems required me to get away from the computer and just walk. Then I could often see the solution which eluded me while I was plugged in.

We all managed to survive pretty well before the Internet. In my case, I suspect that maybe I had a better life back then, not a poorer one. I don't think universal high speed Internet access is an unqualified plus.