FXDDR@ALASKA.BITNET (12/24/87)
Another aspect in the debate over multitasking comes to mind. A few weeks ago some guy was hawking his book on a talk show...don't recall the author or the title but it was pretty much the antithesis of the "Micro Millenium" that came out a few years back. His theme on the show was that office automation most often _reduces_ the office productivity (I've seen this phenomenon mentioned in Infoworld and elsewhere so I'll assume there's some truth to it). So managers will be forced to either toss a lot of the techno-glitz and hope productivity improves, OR employ `watchdog' software to see that everybody is meeting quotas and not goofing off...he called that the `electronic sweatshop' approach. The argument went like this: Right now, PCs are still pretty slow. There is time for employees to get away from the machine for a few minutes while it calculates, sorts, or whatever. But the new generation of PCs can do several things at once, so instead of a moment's relaxation the employee will just move on to a new task. And employers will have the ability to see that they do just that. I've heard that such monitoring is being used a little already for cashiers and ticket agents. Personally, when I first used multitasking systems I thought it was great, and did a lot of simultaneous compiles and whatnot. But these days I rarely try it...seems there's always paperwork to do and journals to read while the computer is busy, so I mentally multitask. Getting the eyes off the screen (*&?!! VT-compatibles) reduces headaches too. After stopping to think about it, I don't know that I'd walk across the street to pick up a multitasking os. Kinda like quadraphonic sound...cute concept but I wouldn't pay extra for it. Having used up a week's worth of computer blasphemy in this message, I'll quit. Notes: 1) No, I didn't post to Amiga. I've lost what interest I had in that machine. 2) If you've sent me mail in the last month (or two?), I haven't been keeping up with it. I'm clearing up the backlog and hope to be caught up shortly... sorry. Don Rice FXDDR@ALASKA.bitnet