Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
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Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
1–10 of 74 posts
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#2I think the title is slightly hyperbolic. A linux distro gives you almost unlimited possibilities to be productive.
Most of the issues can be solved with:
- A tiling window manager such as xmonad.
- Using virtual desktops/separate windows in addition to tabs
- Discipline.
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#3Or, you could exercise some self control.
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#4Some were, see Canon Cat. Jeff Raskin knew what was up.
Plan9 is built around being productive.
but "it hasn't even got a web browser" won the argument
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#5I have a Linux laptop on which I run a tiling window manager (in my case, Xmonad), and nothing else. No system tray, no quick launch bar, nothing.
(if you're not familiar with tiling window managers, they're window managers in which windows are arranged automatically to a) fully occupy the screen and b) never overlap. They're extremely customizable, but typically you'll have a vertical half of your screen with a main app, and the other half with all the other apps "stacked", with keyboard shortcuts to toggle between them and adjust various parameters (e.g. split orientation). You typically also get virtual desktops. The whole thing is fully keyboard driven (on my Xmonad, cmd + shift + enter opens a new terminal, and cmd + shift + c kills the currently selected window), and once you get used to it it's a usability dream).
On it, I have 2 graphical applications installed: a terminal emulator, because that's where I do all my work (and can launch other minor applications, such as a PDF viewer, if needed), and surf, a tab-less/control-less/URL field-less browser that you launch by typing `surf `.
People make fun of me for this weird archaic setup, but it's the most productive machine I've ever used. Tiling window managers don't get in the way, and make it painful obvious when you have non work stuff open. surf forces me to not fuck around with 15000 irrelevant tabs open. It sounds like it would be a terribly crippled experience, but in practice it does not impede my workflow at all - it keeps me focused. It's gotten to the point that when I hear colleagues who complain about all their open tabs and how screwed they would be if their Chrome crashes, I feel like they come from another planet.
I don't like the whole "have some discipline" argument. Humans are notoriously bad at discipline- environment plays as much of a role as self control (try surrounding the most hardcore fitness nut by candy 24/7 and see how long they last). The point of our tools is that they should enable us to be who we want to be.
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#6Or, you could exercise some self control.
I think the way people focus on 'self control' is interesting - it's always presented as a choice, or a flaw in a person if they don't have it. But is this really the case? I'm not convinced my conscious desires are necessarily powerful enough to overwhelm procedures in my brain that have developed by other means.
Of course there are probably plenty of people for whom being told this kind of thing is itself a stimulus that can help to modify their behaviour, but I worry there's another class of people (or even just people in specific contexts) to whom being told to exercise self control is not much different to telling someone with depression to cheer up. Potentially well meaning, but fundamentally the wrong way to approach things.
(To relate to this specific article, I don't see why it shouldn't be a very reasonable point that popular window managers etc may really not be optimised for productivity - not necessarily for you, but for some significant number of people. It's easy to say 'oh they can just change it then', but maybe most of them will never think about it or even realise it's possible unless the issue becomes publicised more widely.)
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#7Or, you could exercise some self control.
I think the way people focus on 'self control' is interesting - it's always presented as a choice, or a flaw in a person if they don't have it. But is this really the case? I'm not convinced my conscious desires are necessarily powerful enough to overwhelm procedures in my brain that have developed by other means. Of course there are probably plenty of people for whom being told this kind of thing is itself a stimulu…
It's all about environment. I don't know about you, but in college I quickly noticed that if I hung out with the hard workers I would get great grades and do all my work on time, and if I hung out with slackers I would just play video games all day.
Put the unfittest, unhealthiest person you know in a house with crazy healthy and fit people for a few months, and you'll notice drastic changes in their habits and behaviors. The opposite is true - put a healthy person in a house where their roommates eat pizzas and watch TV all the time, and they'll quickly get to their level.
On one hand it's depressing (if all your friends and family follow the same patterns you'll have a hard time breaking out of it), but on the other hand it's empowering: you can modify your environment to encourage healthier habits (if all you have in your fridge is healthy food, you won't be snacking on Cheesy Poofs when you're hungry at 4pm).
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#8I have a Linux laptop on which I run a tiling window manager (in my case, Xmonad), and nothing else. No system tray, no quick launch bar, nothing. (if you're not familiar with tiling window managers, they're window managers in which windows are arranged automatically to a) fully occupy the screen and b) never overlap. They're extremely customizable, but typically you'll have a vertical half of your screen with a main…
ohh so this is what I've seen on my coworker computer :)
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#9The author may be on to something with the line "A popup notification that runs without concern for what the user is doing is hostile behavior. Notice how there's no API in any OS for "is now a good time to interrupt the user?". Maybe there should be."
Notifications could be deferred while the user is actively typing. When the user goes idle, deferred notifications can be displayed. This becomes more important as more "push" features are crammed into browsers and apps.
Re: Computers Are Not Designed for Productivity
#10The author may be on to something with the line "A popup notification that runs without concern for what the user is doing is hostile behavior. Notice how there's no API in any OS for "is now a good time to interrupt the user?". Maybe there should be." Notifications could be deferred while the user is actively typing. When the user goes idle, deferred notifications can be displayed. This becomes more important as mor…
I'd like to point out that even if a user goes idle, it might still be a bad time to display notifications. What if a developer is working on a hard problem, and pauses for a while to think about the problem, maybe doodle on a whiteboard/paper, etc.? This could actually be the most damaging time to display a distraction to the developer. The solution to this kind of problem would likely need to be slightly different, possibly including simple mechanics such as "Don't bother me during x time" or "Don't bother me for an hour" to give someone that time they need to just focus/think about something for a block of time.