are we the addicts of the productivity porn?

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Apr 10, 2019 at 10:49 AM

Hello. My name is Steve. I am a CRIMPer.

My CRIMP stems from my early days as a computer user in the 1980s. It astounded me what I could do with my new Compaq computer. I would wander into my local Egghead Software store and browse the apps. I spent way more money than I should have, but the things those DOS apps could do. Help me keep a schedule, write some documents, create a database of the books I read. The potential blew me away.

I still recall installing Sidekick on my work PC (386 processor with a 100mb hard drive, I think). It actually made it possible to copy some text out of one application (they weren’t “apps” back then) and paste it into another. Holy cow! What a breakthrough. And then one day I found Grandview.

I think that sense of discover at what the computer could help me do still permeates my interest in exploring new applications, trying new processes to this day. I guess what I’m saying is that despite being ubiquitous, computer tools still tickle me with their potential. I just keep looking for the right combination of apps that completely fulfills that potential.

I love that sense of discovery when I try a new piece of software for the first time. It may not be the most effective route to productivity, but I’ll be sad the day the computer becomes only a productive tool, like a hammer.

Steve Z.